title: A miniaturized capacitively coupled plasma microtorch optical emission spectrometer and a Rh coiled-filament as small-sized electrothermal vaporization device for simultaneous determination of volatile elements from liquid microsamples: spectral and analytical characterization.
abstract: A low power and low argon consumption (13.56 MHz, 15 W, 150 ml min(-1)) capacitively coupled plasma microtorch interfaced with a low-resolution microspectrometer and a small-sized electrothermal vaporization Rh coiled-filament as liquid microsample introduction device into the plasma was investigated for the simultaneous determination of several volatile elements of interest for environment. Constructive details, spectral and analytical characteristics, and optimum operating conditions of the laboratory equipment for the simultaneous determination of Ag, Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn requiring low vaporization power are provided. The method involves drying of 10 μl sample at 100°C, vaporization at 1500°C and emission measurement by capture of 20 successive spectral episodes each at an integration time of 500 ms. Experiments showed that emission of elements and plasma background were disturbed by the presence of complex matrix and hot Ar flow transporting the microsample into plasma. The emission spectrum of elements is simple, dominated by the resonance lines. The analytical system provided detection limits in the ng ml(-1) range: 0.5(Ag); 1.5(Cd); 5.6(Cu); 20(Pb) and 3(Zn) and absolute detection limits of the order of pg: 5(Ag); 15(Cd); 56(Cu); 200(Pb) and 30(Zn). It was demonstrated the utility and capability of the miniaturized analytical system in the simultaneous determination of elements in soil and water sediment using the standard addition method to compensate for the non-spectral effects of alkali and earth alkaline elements. The analysis of eight certified reference materials exhibited reliable results with recovery in the range of 95-108% and precision of 0.5-9.0% for the five examined elements. The proposed miniaturized analytical system is attractive due to the simple construction of the electrothermal vaporization device and microtorch, low costs associated to plasma generation, high analytical sensitivity and easy-to-run for simultaneous multielemental analysis of liquid microsamples.
authors.affiliation: Babes-Bolyai University, Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Arany Janos 11, 400028 Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Electronic address: ftibi@chem.ubbcluj.ro.
authors.forename: Tiberiu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Frentiu
authors.affiliation: Babes-Bolyai University, Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Arany Janos 11, 400028 Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
authors.forename: Eugen
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Darvasi
authors.affiliation: Babes-Bolyai University, Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Arany Janos 11, 400028 Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
authors.forename: Sinziana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Butaciu
authors.affiliation: Babes-Bolyai University, Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Arany Janos 11, 400028 Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
authors.forename: Michaela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ponta
authors.affiliation: Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, Faculty of Electronics, Telecommunications and Information Technology, Gh. Baritiu 26-28, 400027 Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
authors.forename: Dorin
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Petreus
authors.affiliation: INCDO-INOE 2000 National Institute for Research and Development of Optoelectronics Bucharest, Research Institute for Analytical Instrumentation, Donath 67, 400293 Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
authors.forename: Alin I
authors.initials: AI
authors.lastname: Mihaltan
authors.affiliation: INCDO-INOE 2000 National Institute for Research and Development of Optoelectronics Bucharest, Research Institute for Analytical Instrumentation, Donath 67, 400293 Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Frentiu
mesh_terms: D002104:Cadmium / Q000032:analysis; D003300:Copper / Q000032:analysis; D004563:Electrochemistry / Q000379:methods*; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000737:chemistry; D007854:Lead / Q000032:analysis; D057230:Limit of Detection; D055095:Optics and Photonics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012834:Silver / Q000032:analysis; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000032:analysis; D013054:Spectrophotometry, Atomic / Q000379:methods*; D013696:Temperature; D014131:Trace Elements / Q000032:analysis*; D014835:Volatilization; D015032:Zinc / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D012989:Soil Pollutants; D014131:Trace Elements; D002104:Cadmium; D007854:Lead; D012834:Silver; D003300:Copper; D015032:Zinc
keywords: Capacitively coupled plasma microtorch; Electrothermal vaporization; Microspectrometer; Multielemental analysis; Optical emission spectrometry; Rh-coiled filament