Use of glow discharge mass spectrometry for quality control of high-purity aluminium

Abstract

Observations on the use of a glow discharge mass spectrometer for the quality control of trace element levels in high-purity (99.999% or better) aluminium and aluminium alloys is presented. The procedures used, the extent of coverage of the Periodic Table, standardisation procedures and a review of the analytical results are presented and discussed. Statistical analysis of the results provides insight as to the best ways to assure consumers of these materials that their specifications are met. Other factors affecting results are also considered.

Glow Discharge Mass Spectrometry

“…156 Aluminium Application of GDMS to the analysis of high-purity aluminium and Al alloys has been a very important field of commercial GDMS even though no recent publication have appeared after the introduction of the method. 61,88,[157][158][159][160][161] Further development was published in relation to comparative work on different matrices like new aluminium alloys. 162,163 Some comparative work of different methods has been produced using nuclear methods and isotope dilution using TIMS or ICP-MS. S and O depth profiles on aluminised Nisuperalloy were also recorded by Lee et al 164 Copper…”

Application of Argon as the Internal Standard Method in Glow Discharge Mass Spectrometry

“…After being ionized in glow discharge plasma, the discharge gas argon (Ar) not only correspondingly produces single atom ions ( 36,38,40 Ar �� ), but also mutually combines to form bi-atom ions ( 72,74,76,78,80 Ar 2 �� ), tri-atom ions ( 108,110,112,114,116,118,120 Ar 3 �� ) and so on. As single atom ions of argon are at low mass range, they can easily interfere with other ions (for example 36 S �� , 18 The interference of isobaric ions (Ge �� , Se �� and Kr �� ) may be neglected, because the content of these interference elements are usually low in the samples. Nitrides and oxides of the matrix elements and the main alloy elements are the main causes of interference for bi-atom argon ions and 72,74,76 Ar 2…”

“…Glow discharge mass spectrometry (GDMS), which is an efficient direct solid analysis method, 1-7 has developed quickly over the past several decades, especially in trace analysis of high pure metal and semiconductor materials. [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18] The advantages of GDMS are its ability to determine almost all elements, superior detection limits, multi-elemental analysis, little matrix effect and wide linear dynamic range. [19][20][21] When samples were analyzed by GDMS, matrix elements such as Fe were selected as the internal standard (matrix internal standard method) to reduce the effects of the differences in analytical samples and the fluctuation of discharge conditions on analytical results.…”

Interference correction in analysis of stainless steel and multi-element determination by glow discharge quadrupole mass spectrometry

“…resolution of GD-QMS makes it impossible to separate molecular ion interferences from analytical ions with the same nominal mass [11]. In practical application, GDMS is used to determine the high pure metal and semiconductor material [10,[12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21], but seldom applied in steel analysis. In this study, 15 elements of stainless steel were determined by GD-QMS, and the sample analysis has obtained the satisfactory results.…”