Lc. Alves et al., REMOVAL OF ORGANIC-SOLVENTS BY CRYOGENIC DESOLVATION IN INDUCTIVELY-COUPLED PLASMA-MASS SPECTROMETRY, Journal of analytical atomic spectrometry, 9(3), 1994, pp. 399-403
Methanol, ethanol, acetone or acetonitrile were nebulized continuously
with an ultrasonic nebulizer. The solvent was removed from the aeroso
l stream by repetitive heating at approximately 100-degrees-C and cool
ing in a set of cryogenic loops at -80-degrees-C. The resulting aeroso
l was then introduced into an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrom
eter. Ethanol was the only solvent that required a continuous dose of
additional O2 (1-5%) in the aerosol gas to prevent deposition of carbo
n on the sampler. Oxide ratios for LaO+:La+ and UO+:U+ were 0.03-0.1%.
Cryogenic desolvation attenuated but did not eliminate the usual carb
on-containing polyatomic ions (e.g., CO+, CO2+, ArC+ and ArCO+). Analy
te sensitivities from metal nitrate salts in methanol were comparable
to the sensitivities from aqueous metal solutions. Substantial memory
effects were observed from several metal complexes.