Inelastic collisional deactivation in plasma-related non-spectroscopic matrix interferences in inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry

Inelastic collisional deactivation of the analyte excited state is demonstr ated as a dominant cause for non-spectroscopic matrix interference in induc tively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) for commonly u sed plasma operating conditions in routine analysis. A mathematical simulat ion of the inelastic collisional model was examined. Comparison between the theoretical model and experimental results using atomic and ionic lines of the analytes Zn, Ba, Mg, Mn and Sr validates the inelastic collisional dea ctivation model as a dominant cause for non-spectroscopic matrix effect. Ma trices evaluated were NH4Cl, NH4SCN, (NH4)(2)SO4, and H2SO4 to represent di fficult-to-ionize matrices (DIE) and NaCl and CaCl2 to represent easy-to-io nize element matrices (EIE). (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights rese rved.