Report
Fundamental Research in
ICP-OES and ICPMS
Fundamental
E
xciting research progress is be-
ing made to quantitatively link
i fundamental processes and prac-
research in ICP-OEStical ICP analysis (1-6). The results of
such fundamental research are used to
and ICPMS can improve practical analysis. Investigation
and modeling of space charge effects have
result in improved led to the development of ICPMS instru-
ments that are less susceptible to matrix
performance, effects. Plasma modeling has resulted in
improvements in practical analysis of
reliability, accuracy, semiconductor gases and development of
helium plasmas for ICPMS. Some manu-
and ease of use facturers claim that their instrument is
better than others on the basis of funda-
mental plasma properties such as electron
number density.
Further improvements are unlikely to
be gained from purely empirical approaches.
One of the biggest dangers in ICP analy-
sis today is the possibility of obtaining
inaccurate results without any indication
of a problem (3). Results from funda-
mental research are needed to improve
analysis accuracy, develop practical diag-
nostics and intelligent instruments, and
reduce operator skill requirements.
Shorter sample washout times, reduced
nebulizer-related noise, more efficient,
robust ion transport in ICPMS, and bet-
ter precision are also likely to be
achieved.
Converting samples into
signals
Four sets of processes control ICP signals:
plasma dynamics, aerosol generation and
transport, production of ions (and atoms),
and excitation or ion transport from the ICP
to the detector. Inaccuracy in practical anal-
ysis can occur when the composition of the
sample solvent (acid identity, concentra-
John W. Olesik tion, organic solvent) and the sample itself
Ohio State University (the matrix) affects these processes.
0003-2700/96/0368-469A/$12.00/0 Analytical Chemistry News & Features, August 1, 1996 4 6 9 A
© 1996 American Chemical Society
A single drop of sample aerosol under-
goes several processes as it travels through
the plasma. As the drop is heated, solvent
evaporates and leaves behind a particle of
analyte. After the particle is sufficiently
heated, it begins to vaporize (or perhaps
explode). Molecules or atoms are pro-
duced; these are then atomized or ionized
and diffuse rapidly. A small fraction of the
atoms and ions become excited and emit
light for ICP-OES. A minuscule fraction of
the analyte ions (often less than one in a
million) reach the detector of the mass
spectrometer. Each of these processes is
critically dependent on plasma characteris-
tics, including gas temperature, electron
concentration, electron temperature, and
energy transport rates.
Why is it so difficult to gain an accu-
rate understanding of the fundamental
processes? The answer to this question
has several components. The processes
overlap in time and space. Also, more than
106 polydisperse aerosol drops of sample
typically enter the plasma each second.
Drops of various sizes complete desolva-
tion at different locations in the plasma.
Atoms and ions produced from small
drops, together with vaporizing particles
and desolvating drops, can all be in the
observation volume. Even for a single
drop, particle vaporization, atomization,
and ionization occur concurrently, al-
though at different rates.
The plasma is also spatially heteroge-
neous, and simple equilibrium-based mod-
els are often inadequate to quantitatively
describe the ICP. Energy is coupled mainly
into a donut-shaped region near the load
coil. Heat and chemical species are trans-
ported from this "energy addition region"
to the center of the plasma, leading to large
temperature and concentration gradients. If
equilibrium could be assumed in the ICP, a
 Report
simple set of equations would describe ex-
citation and ionization. Instead, more com-
plex kinetic models are needed.
Finally, the effect of the sample on
plasma characteristics must be considered.
Although less than 50 W of power is typi-
cally needed to convert the sample into free
atoms and ions, the sample can significantly
affect die properties of the plasma. Emis-
sion intensity is a function of the number of
analyte ions in the observation zone and the
fraction excited, and ICPMS signals are a
function of the number of analyte ions in
die ICP and the fraction of ions that reach
the detector. Therefore, single measure-
ments of analyte emission or MS signal
alone are insufficient to investigate any one
of the fundamental processes involved in
ICPMS. Laser-induced fluorescence mea-
surements can provide information on the
number of analyte ions in a given volume of
the ICP; a combination of emission and
fluorescence can be used to determine
numbers and excitation of ions.
Plasma dynamics. The plasma con-
verts the sample into free ions (for ICP-
MS) or free, excited atoms or ions (for
ICP-OES). Starting from Ar and electrical
power (the input ingredients to the plas-
ma), the chemistry of the Ar ICP would
seem to be simple, described primarily by
the formation of argon ions and electrons
from elemental Ar. Most analyte atoms
and ions are excited by collisions of elec-
trons, and the probability of producing an
excited atom or ion is dependent on the
electron concentration and velocity (tem-
perature). The gas temperature (which
describes the kinetic energy of the Ar at-
oms) likely controls the desolvation and
vaporization of the sample. The research
challenges are to develop fundamental
models that relate chemical composition
and temperature of the plasma to each
other, to develop models that predict the
spatial structure of the ICP, and to make
reliable experimental measurements to
assess and improve the models.
If the ICP were in local thermodynamic
equilibrium (LTE), a simple expression
would relate electron concentration, tem-
perature, and pressure, and the electron
temperature and the gas temperature
would be the same. Does mis simple LTE
approach to relate temperature and chemi-
cal composition of the Ar plasma work? Not
exactly. Measured electron temperatures
470 A Analytical Chemistry News & Features, August 1, 1996
are up to 2000 K hotter than gas tempera-
tures (7), and the electron concentration
calculated by using the measured electron
temperature is 3 to 10timeslower than die
measured electron concentration.
Because energy is coupled mainly into
electrons in the ICP (the much more mas-
sive ions respond too slowly to die oscillat-
ing magnetic fields), energy must be trans-
ferred to Ar atoms via collisions. Models
are now being developed to account for the
imperfect transfer of energy and dissimilar
electron and gas temperatures.
Barnes and co-workers (8) have devel-
oped fluid dynamics-based models to de-
scribe the spatial structure of the ICP
starting from input power, torch and load
coil geometry, and gas flow rates. These
models, although not entirely accurate,
are now being used to design practical
ICPs and are being modified to include
nonequilibrium effects.
Aerosol generation and trans-
port. Liquid samples must be converted
into aerosol drops that are small enough
to be vaporized in the ICP. The total vol-
ume of liquid entering the plasma must
also be limited (typically 30 uL/min or
less). Drift, noise, inefficient use of sam-
ple, and matrix effects caused by varia-
Figure 1 . Effects of sample uptake
rate on sample aerosol.
(a) Primary drop size distribution of sample
uptake rates of 0.4, 1.0, and 2.0 mL/min.
(b) Ratio of tertiary to primary aerosols
showing more extensive aerosol losses as the
uptake rate is increased.
tions in solvent composition (including
acid identity and concentration) appear to
originate primarily in the aerosol genera-
tion and transport processes.
For the commonly used pneumatic
nebulizers, the key design parameters
have been empirically related to aerosol
drop size (9). The primary aerosol pro-
duced by the nebulizer is modified as it
passes through the spray chamber be-
cause of evaporation, impact and drop
shattering, inertial deposition, and gravita-
tional settling.
For a particular pneumatic nebulizer
and spray chamber, the gas flow rate and
sample uptake rate are the key variables
that control drop size and transport effi-
ciency into the ICP. Smaller primary aero-
sol drops are produced as the gas flow rate
is increased, whereas changes in uptake
rate have a smaller effect on average drop
size. The spray chamber removes most
large drops before the aerosol enters the
ICP; however, the transport efficiency of
even small drops is less than 10% at sample
uptake rates of 1 mL/min. As a result, typi-
cally less than 2% of the sample aerosol
reaches the plasma.
It has been suggested that drop colli-
sions and coalescence to form larger drop-
lets reduce the aerosol transport effi-
ciency as the sample uptake rate is in-
creased (10). The amount of sample that
enters the plasma barely changes as the
liquid uptake rate is increased from 0.4 to
2.0 mL/min. Although the average drop
size grows slightly as the liquid flow rate
is increased (Figure la), the loss of aero-
sol of all sizes in the spray chamber rather
than production of fewer small primary
drops causes the decrease in transport
efficiency (Figure lb). Changes in the
nebulizer gas flow rate predominately af-
fect the primary aerosol and have less
effect on losses in the spray chamber.
Analysis of small volumes requires high
aerosol transport efficiencies. Fortunately,
as rhe liquid flow rate delivered to the nebu-
lizer decreases, transport efficiency into the
plasma increases, probably because fewer
droplet collisions (and coagulation) occur
in the spray chamber. Transport efficien-
cies of up to 87% have been obtained using
pneumatic nebulizers at liquid flow rates of
1 uL/min or less with tertiary to primary
aerosol volume ratios > 1 for some drop
diameters. The direct injection nebulizer
 (DIN) and the thermospray, ultrasonic, and
oscillating capillary-based nebulizers can
also deliver small volumes of sample into
the ICP efficiently. High-efficiency nebuliz-
ers that consume only 10-50 uL/min of
sample, but produce signals similar to neb-
ulizers using 1 mL/min of sample, have
recently been introduced.
Production of ions and atoms.
Many basic questions concerning the pro-
cesses that convert a drop (or particle) of
sample to free atoms and ions have long
been unanswered. How long does it take
to completely desolvate a drop in the
plasma? How long does it take to vaporize
the remaining analyte particle? What are
the ideal properties of the sample aerosols
for ICP spectrometry?
Empirical optimization has led to the
use of finer aerosols and lower solution
transport rates into the plasma than is
typical of flame spectrometry. One group
found that emission intensity correlated
with the volume of aerosol drops with di-
ameters less than 8 um but not with the
total volume of aerosol entering the
plasma {11). Some aerosol drops with
initial diameters of 10-15 um were found
to be incompletely desolvated, even in the
analytical zone of the plasma (12).
If individual drops of sample could be
introduced into the ICP, the desolvation
and vaporization processes could be sepa-
rated in time and space, and the rates of
vaporization, atomization, and ionization
processes could be determined. A group of
rocket scientists has designed a monodis-
perse dried microparticulate injector (13),
or MDMI, that can be used to reproducibly
introduce individual, monodisperse drops
of user-selectable size into the ICP (14).
The rates of production of atoms and
ions as well as diffusion can be determined
from the time-gated laser-induced fluores-
cence images of individual atom and ion
clouds (Figure 2). Time-integrated mea-
surements as a function of height in the
ICP can also be used to investigate these
processes, because height in the plasma
can be related to time through the use of
measured gas velocities. Finally, the initial
appearance of emission can be used to indi-
cate when desolvation is complete and ana-
lyte particle vaporization begins.
Analyte excitation/ionization
and ion transport. Only excited atoms
or ions produce emission. The mecha-
Figure 2. Images of Sr ion clouds in the ICP showing the production and
diffusion of ions detected at different times relative to a reference signal.
The time-integrated image of Sr emission is shown at the left.
nisms for excitation and ionization are of
great interest because equilibrium-based
expressions do not correctly predict ex-
perimentally measured emission intensi-
ties. If the ICP were in LTE, relative emis-
sion intensities and the extent of ioniza-
tion would be easy to predict. This would
have implications on semiquantitative
analysis using ICP-OES, on choosing in-
ternal standards, and on predicting and
correcting spectral interferences. The Ar
ICP appears to be in partial LTE (15),
close enough for a qualitative understand-
ing but not for quantitatively accurate pre-
dictions of excitation and ionization.
What could cause deviations from
LTE? If emission of light depopulates ex-
cited states at a significant rate (compared
with nonradiative de-excitation by elec-
tron-excited atom or ion collisions), LTE
predictions will be erroneous; even simple
collisional-radiative models dramatically
improve predictions of excitation and ion-
ization (16), and further improvements
are being made (17).
Mass transport, likely to occur consid-
ering the concentration gradients in the
ICP, could also produce non-LTE behav-
ior. Although specific reactions such as
Penning ionization or ion exchange could
also lead to deviations from LTE, except
in a few specific cases (18) this does not
appear to be happening. Finally, time- and
space-dependent fluctuations in plasma
conditions caused by cooling by desolvat-
ing droplets or vaporizing particles could
Analytical Chemistry News & Features, August 1, 1996 471 A
lead to biased time-integrated measure-
ments that would appear to deviate from
LTE.
Refined models for excitation and ion-
ization are being combined with models of
sample decomposition and gas dynamics
to quantitatively describe ICP signals, and
experimental measurements to effectively
test and adjust the models—particularly
using a combination of laser-induced fluo-
rescence and emission imaging of individ-
ual atom and ion clouds produced by the
MDMI—are being made.
The flow of plasma gas (including ana-
lyte ions) through the sampling orifice is
controlled by the predominant species in
the ICP, neutral Ar atoms. The gas rapidly
expands, and all of the species move at
nearly the same velocity, independent of
mass.
Flow through the skimmer is also prob-
ably dominated by the flow of neutral Ar
atoms, which is consistent with the mea-
sured linear dependence of ion kinetic ener-
gies on mass downstream of the skimmer
(19). Charge separation could be caused by
an increase in electron mobility as the gas
expands or the effect of the electric field
produced by the first ion-optic lens, result-
ing in a positive ion beam. The location and
time required for charge separation could
have important implications on ion trajecto-
ries and detection efficiency.
Once a positive ion beam is formed,
the ion trajectories depend on the voltage
gradients within the ion optics. The accel-
 Report

which ion-electron charge separation oc- the plasma. A combination of modeling

curs is critically important and needs fur- and experimental measurements are
ther theoretical and experimental investi- needed to assess these effects.
gation. Models are needed that can ac- Changes in die amount of aerosol enter-
count for the charge separation, its effect ing die plasma can have dramatic affects.
on ion trajectories, and the effects of colli- Vertical emission profiles can shift, and the
sions in the region where charge separa- emission intensity per microgram of ana-
tion occurs. Improved understanding of lyte entering the plasma can change by as
ion transport should lead to improved sen- much as a factor of 50,000. Large changes
sitivity and reduced matrix effects. in ion kinetic energy have also been ob-
served as aerosol loading is varied (19).
Sample effects Some aerosol drops survive even in die
Many of the fundamental processes can normal analytical zone of die ICP (22,23).
be affected by the sample in surprisingly Each drop and vaporizing particle acts as a
dramatic ways. The sample solvent or dis- heat sink that affects a surprisingly large
solved solids can affect the plasma tem- volume of the plasma (12), and average
perature and electron concentration. temperatures in this locally cold region can
Background species can be formed from be more than 1500 K cooler than the sur-
reactions between analytes and solvent or rounding plasma (24). Because the volume
Figure 3. Effect of 0.11 Ml NaCI on plasma species. of plasma affected by a single drop is so
t h e production of Sr ions. Accurate analysis requires that the large, relatively small numbers of incom-
(a) Measured by laser-induced fluorescence and sensitivity (signal per unit analyte concen- pletely desolvated drops can affect the num-
Sr ion excitation, and (b) determined from the ber of atoms and ions in the observation
ratio of emission-to-laser-induced fluorescence.
tration) be constant for the sample and
Emission and fluorescence values were the calibration standards. However, varia- volume (both increase, almough atoms
determined for an entire ion cloud and integrated tion in the sample matrix, including acid increase more dramatically), die fraction
in all directions to obtain a single total value. tiiat are excited (which decreases), and the
concentration or identity, the presence of
small amounts of organic solvent, and fraction that are transported from die
eration of ions attributable to the electric high concentrations of almost any ele- plasma to die detector of die mass spec-
fields produced by the ion optics is depen- ment, can affect sensitivity. trometer (which also decreases).
dent on kinetic energy, so ions with differ- Effect of sample solvent on the Organic solvents cause their own
ent energies then move with different ve- plasma. The effect of aqueous aerosol on unique set of effects on plasma characteris-
locities. Ion focusing is mass dependent if the plasma is much different than the effect tics and analytical signals. Electron concen-
ion kinetic energies are mass dependent. of water vapor, although both can be signifi- trations and temperatures are reduced, and
When a large number of positive ions cant (21). In general, temperatures and a 500-W increase in applied power may be
exist in a small volume, "space charge" can electron number densities increase when necessary to compensate for solvent-in-
result in a loss of sensitivity. Positive ions water vapor is added to a dry Ar ICP. In duced cooling. Because organic solvents
(in the absence of electrons) repel each contrast, temperatures and electron num- typically have higher volatilities than water,
other and cause defocusing of the ion ber densities decrease when die amount of organic solvent vapor loading may be 10
beam. Alternatively, space charge can be water aerosol entering the plasma is in- times larger than that of aqueous samples.
viewed as a radial electric field imposed by creased. Organic solvents generally cause a The maximum tolerable load for many or-
the positive ion beam, which can become as dramatic cooling of the plasma, but their ganic solvents is more dependent on volatil-
large as the electric field produced by an effect depends on die relative amounts of ity than on the nature of the solvent
ion lens and cause the beam to become carbon and oxygen. With a typical nebuliz- The solvent vapor, unlike aerosol, can
defocused. The ion current through the er/spray chamber, approximately 20 mg of diffuse outside of die center channel of the
first ion lens past the skimmer is 100-1000 water vapor and 5-25 mg (uL) of water plasma, perhaps even before entering die
times smaller than predicted by gas dynam- aerosol enter the plasma per minute. plasma, and die distribution of solvent into
ics alone, consistent with space-charge ef- The power required to convert the wa- different regions of the plasma cantiiusbe
fects. Lighter ions (having lower kinetic ter vapor and sample aerosol into free at- very important. The carbon-to-oxygen ratio
energies) will move farther out of the cen- oms and ions (30-50 W) could be a signifi- of the solvent is important, apparently re-
ter of the beam than will heavy ions. Be- cant fraction of the power available in the gardless of the chemical form of oxygen
cause space-charge effects are mass depen- center channel of the ICP (about 100 W) if and carbon that are introduced into the
dent, isotope ratios could be biased toward heat transfer is relatively slow. Although plasma (25).
the higher mass ion. hydrogen and oxygen atoms produced Background and spectral over-
An ion trajectory model that includes from water vapor account for < 2% of the laps. In ICP-OES, little can be done to
space charge has been developed, al- atoms in the plasma, the decomposition reduce continuum background emission
though it is limited to ion currents far be- products of the water vapor could affect without a radical change, for instance,
low those expected (20). The location at the thermal and electrical conductivity of viewing emission after expansion into a

472 A Analytical Chemistry News & Features, August 1, 1996

vacuum. However, automated chemometric
means of subtracting background and si-
multaneous detection of background and
analyte signals are improving in accuracy. It
is likely that models for ICP-OES will even-
tually allow spectral overlaps to be quantita-
tively predicted. The use of solid-state de-
tectors that view multiple emission lines for
each element should lead to improvements
in handling spectral overlaps, including
automated selection of background correc-
tion methods and parameters.
Although isobaric overlaps (from iso-
topes of different elements with an isotope
at the same nominal mass) in ICPMS are
easily predicted, spectral overlaps from
molecular ions (such as ArO+, ArH\ refrac-
tive oxides, and organic molecular ions) are
more problematic. It is not yet clear if mo-
lecular ions are formed primarily by ion-
molecule reactions or by ionization of neu-
tral molecules. The molecular species could
be formed in the ICP (but not seen in ICP-
OES because molecules are weak emitters
and the continuum background is high),
near the sampling orifice, or in the expan-
sion region. Molecular oxide ions have
lower kinetic energies than do elemental
ions of similar mass (19), which is consis-
tent with the formation of molecular oxide
ions in locally cool regions of the plasma,
such as those near incompletely desolvated
droplets or vaporizing particles.
Two approaches to overcoming molec-
ular ion spectral overlaps in ICPMS con-
tinue to evolve: use of high-resolution
mass spectrometers or means to eradicate
or reduce polyatomic ion signals by using
cryogenic desolvation, addition of xenon
or other gases, and a carbon center tube.
Solvent composition. The solvent
can affect analyte sensitivities because of
changes in the analyte transport rate into
the plasma resulting from changes in aero-
sol properties, differences in the chemical
composition of the sample and the aerosol
that reaches the ICP, or matrix-induced
variations in the plasma itself. Large varia-
tions in acid concentration or the use of
organic rather than aqueous solvent will,
not surprisingly, affect analyte signals.
However, changes in acid concentration
from one sample to the next can cause
large, transient variations in analyte signals
that may occur in a matter of minutes (26).
A large increase in acid concentration
(such as from 1% to 20% v/v nitric acid)
reduces the analyte transport rate. Al-
though the drop size distribution of the
primary aerosol shifts to only slightly
larger diameters as the acid concentration
is increased, the average tertiary aerosol
drop size decreases, implicating pro-
cesses within the spray chamber (27). It
is not clear why this occurs. Sulfuric and
phosphoric acids cause more severe ef-
fects than do hydrochloric and nitric ac-
ids, although each behaves uniquely. The
relative magnitude of the acid effects is
critically dependent on the plasma and
sample introduction conditions used.
Surprisingly small changes in acid con-
centration can be important when the acid
concentration is low (28). Changing the
HC1 concentration from 10"4 or less to
10"3 % v/v can result in a 20% increase in
signal, and a similar change in HC104 con-
centration can cause a 30% decrease in
signal. Furthermore, the effects can be
highly element-dependent (29).
Fundamental
processes can be
affected by the sample Measurements to separately assess the
in surprisingly effect of matrix on plasma properties and
conversion of drops into free atoms and
dramatic ways. ions are now being made. Some initial re-
sults using the MDMI are shown in Figure
Small amounts of organic solvent in an
aqueous sample can have a significant
effect on analyte signals. For example,
one drop of acetone added to 50 mL of an
aqueous sample produced a 15% decrease
in analyte signal, because the fraction of
ions that were excited decreased more
than the 11% increase in analyte transport
rate (30). Further investigation of aerosol
generation, modification, and transport, as
well as plasma-sample interactions, is
essential.
Dissolved solids. Analyte signals
can also be affected by the presence of
high concentrations (> 10 mM for ICP-
OES, > 1 mM for ICPMS) of any element
that is efficiently ionized, as most are, in
the ICP. Efficiently ionized elements
(EIEs) generally cause a decrease in the
number of analyte ions in the analytical
zone of the ICP as measured by laser-in-
duced fluorescence (31,32). At the same
time, a larger fraction of analyte ions is
excited when high concentrations of EIEs
are present in the sample. This is one rea-
son EIE effects in ICP-OES are often less
severe than in ICPMS. There is a shift in
the relative number of atoms and ions
towards atoms in the presence of high
concentrations of EIEs, but the increase
in the number of atoms is too small to ac-
count for the entire decrease in the num-
ber of ions.
Matrix effects in ICPMS are caused by
a combination of decreases in ion concen-
tration in the plasma and changes in the
fraction of ions transported from the ICP
to the MS detector. According to theoreti-
cal calculations and experimental mea-
surements, there is no mass dependence
to EIE effects in the plasma itself (33);
rather, the mass-dependent portion of EIE
effects in ICPMS appear to be caused by
space-charge effects. Instruments de-
signed to reduce space-charge effects
show less severe EIE chemical matrix
effects with a weaker dependence on
mass (34,35). The magnitude of the EIE
effect is less severe for matrix elements
with high ionization energies, such as Se
or As, than for matrix elements with lower
ionization energies.
3. The entire ion cloud is within the laser
beam and optical collection volume so that
the total number of ions produced can be
calculated as a function of the location of
the center of the cloud. The presence of Na
in the sample causes an earlier appearance
of ions (lower in the ICP), probably be-
cause of faster vaporization, but it takes
longer from the initial appearance of ions
until the analyte is completely ionized
(reaching a steady value). Excitation is dra-
matically affected by the presence of NaCl
in the sample, as determined from emis-
sion-to-fluorescence ratios.
This is consistent with the observation
of increases in electron concentration,
electron temperature, and in some cases,
gas temperature by using Thomson scat-
tering (36). When these experiments are
combined with atom emission, fluores-
cence imaging, and laser light scattering,
the effect of matrices on each fundamental
process can be assessed.

Analytical Chemistry News & Features, August 1, 1996 4 7 3 A


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474 A Analytical Chemistry News & Features, August 1, 1996
Report
Future progress
Improvements in ICP-OES and ICPMS
performance, reliability, accuracy, and
ease of use depend on further fundamen-
tal research. Sample introduction systems
are likely to be dramatically improved by
investigation of aerosol generation pro-
cesses and sample-plasma interaction.
Intelligent instruments based on diag-
nostic signals could warn the operator,
not only if the instrument is malfunction-
ing but also if a particular sample is likely
to suffer from an analysis error, by identi-
fying changes in the aerosol transport rate
or the extent of ionization and excitation
in the plasma. Problem samples could
then be reanalyzed by using matrix-
matched standards or standard additions.
Alternatively, the instrument could force
plasma conditions to be the same, regard-
less of the sample matrix, to eliminate the
potential error.
Progress has already been made to-
ward this goal. For example, Mermet (37)
has described a set of diagnostic signals
that can be used to determine if a nebu-
lizer is likely clogged, if the applied power
has drifted, if the spectrometer is drifting,
or if the window to the spectrometer is
becoming fogged. As pointed out by
Blades and Weir (1), "Eventually plasma
diagnostics will probably be used interac-
tively to provide on-line feedback control
to compensate for drift, matrix effects,
solvent loading effects, and noise."
References
(1) Blades, M. W.; Weir, D. G. Spectroscopy
1994, 9(8), 14-21.
(2) Hieftje, G. M.; Galley, P. J.; Glick, M.;
Hanselman, D. S.J. Anal. At. Spectrom.
1992, 7, 69-73.
(3) Hieftje, G. M. Spectrochim. Acta 1992, (35) Tanner, S. D.; Cousins, L. M.; Douglas,
47B, 3-25.
(4) Houk, R. S.; Shum, S.C.K.; Wiederin, D. R. (36) Hanselman, D. S.; Sesi, N. N.; Huang, M.;
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In addition to performingfundamental re-
search on plasmas, John W. Olesik does re-
about this article to Olesik at Laboratory for
and Mass Spectrometry, Dept. of Geological
Sciences, 275 Mendenhall Laboratory, 125
Columbus, OH 43210