INDUCTIVELY-COUPLED PLASMA-ATOMIC EMISSION SPECTROMETRIC ANALYSIS OF AQUEOUS SLURRIES OF SOLIDS

The direct injection of solids-water slurries into the torch of an ind uctively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometer offers a quick an d easy method for the analysis of major and minor elements in various solids. In this project aqueous slurries of solids were prepared by we t milling with a stirred-ball slurry attritor mill and analyzed. Slurr ies of standard reference materials, prepared in the same way, were us ed as calibration standards. The best results were obtained with solid s having a small particle size (2-5 mu m) and a close distribution of particle sizes. The average percent relative error for slurry-ICP anal ysis of most major and minor elements was generally less than 5% for t he solids studied. (C) 1997 Academic Press.