A large bore-direct injection high efficiency nebulizer for inductively coupled plasma spectrometry

A large bore-direct injection high efficiency nebulizer (LB-DIHEN) is intro duced that is less prone to capillary blockage and optimally operates at lo w nebulizer gas pressures compared with the conventional DIHEN used for ind uctively coupled plasma (ICP) spectrometries, The aerosol quality is examin ed using a two-dimensional phase Doppler particle analyzer (2D PDPA), and a nalytical figures of merits are acquired by ICP mass spectrometry. Compared with the DIHEN, the LB-DIHEN produces larger droplets, but the velocity di stributions and mean droplet velocities are narrower and lower, respectivel y, providing longer residence times for the droplets in the plasma. High RF power (1500 W), low nebulizer gas now rates (0.25-0.35 L/min), and low sol ution uptake rates (80-110 mu L/min) are required to operate the LB-DIHEN a t optimum conditions for ICPMS. Detection limits and sensitivities measured with the LB-DIHEN are superior to those of a conventional nebulizer-spray chamber combination, but precision is inferior. The performance of the LB-D IHEN is further explored in the determination of trace elements in an herba l extract.