title: Condensation reaction in the bandpass reaction cell improves sensitivity for uranium, thorium, neodymium and praseodymium measurements.
abstract: Condensation reactions in the bandpass reaction cell or dynamic reaction cell (DRC) were used for the determination of actinides and lanthanides such as uranium, thorium, neodymium and praseodymium. These elements react with oxygen reagent gas in the dynamic reaction cell of the ELAN DRC II instrument to give mono- and/or dioxo cationic species (UO(2)+, ThO+, NdO+ and PrO+, respectively). Increasing the oxygen flow rate in the dynamic reaction cell leads to the rapid decrease of the singly charged metal ions accompanied by the fast increase in the intensity of the oxide ion. This phenomenon is used to improve considerably the sensitivity of ICP-MS instruments equipped with a dynamic reaction cell for actinides and lanthanides. Estimated detection limits (EDL) obtained in this work for uranium, thorium, neodymium-144 and praseodymium are 0.022, 1.0, 0.045, and 0.10 ng L(-1), respectively. The detection limit for uranium measured in the standard (vented) mode of an ELAN DRC II was found to be 0.22 ng L(-1), which is an order of magnitude higher compared to the pressurized mode.
authors.affiliation: Radiation Protection Bureau, Health Canada, 775 Brookfield Road, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 1C1, Canada. Vladimir_Vais@hc-sc.gc.ca
authors.forename: Vladimir
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Vais
authors.forename: Chunsheng
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Jack
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cornett