SILICON SPECIATION USING REVERSED-PHASE HIGH-PERFORMANCE LIQUID-CHROMATOGRAPHY INDUCTIVELY-COUPLED PLASMA-ATOMIC EMISSION-SPECTROMETRY - RADIAL VERSUS AXIAL VIEWING

The speciation of polar silicon compounds by high performance liquid c hromatography using both radially viewed and axially viewed inductivel y coupled plasma (ICP) atomic emission spectrometers, with solid state detection, is described. Optimum operating conditions for the direct aspiration of an organic mobile phase were evaluated for the two modes of viewing and limits of detection, background equivalent concentrati ons and relative standard deviations of the blank were calculated to c ompare radially viewed and axially viewed ICPs directly. It was found that no appreciable improvements in detection limits were observed whe n viewing the plasma axially. This is attributed to the fact that the plasma noise cannot be eliminated for 'end on' viewing through the ent ire optical path length. Various methods for data acquisition are also described. (C) 1998 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights res erved.