Cool plasma technology

Unfortunately, even though the use of cool plasma conditions is recognized as being a very useful tool for the determination of a small group of elements, its limitations are well documented. A summary of the limitations of cool plasma technology includes the following ... 

The limitations of cool plasma technology have led to the development of collision/ reaction cells and interfaces, which utilize ion-molecule collisions and reactions to cleanse the ion beam of harmful polyatomic and molecular interferences before... 

Other interferences have been reduced somewhat with conventional ICP-MS instrumentation, using alternate masses, interference correction equations, cool plasma technology, and desolvation techniques, but these approaches have not shown themselves to be particularly useful for these elements, especially at nltratrace levels. 

The rapid nature of the transient event has also limited the usefulness of ETV sampling for routine multielement analysis, because realistically only a small number of elements can be quantified with good accuracy and precision in >3 s. In addition, the development of low-flow nebulizers, desolvation devices, automated online chemistry, cool plasma technology, and coUision/reaction cells and interfaces has meant that multielement analysis can now be carried out on difficult matrices without the need for ETV sample introduction. This has limited its use to more research-oriented applications. 

Although this technology is effective in resolving a wide range of polyatomic interferences, the increased cost associated with this type of instrumentation (more than twice the price of a quadrupole instrument) limits its use in most routine laboratories, hence alternative methods of interference reduction have been sought for. The use of chemical extraction and chromatography (in order to separate the analyte from the matrix prior to analysis) or the operation of the ICP-MS under so-called cool plasma conditions, allows the elimination of... 

In fact, these application limitations have led some vendors to reject the cool plasma approach in favor of collision/reaction cell technology. So, it could be that the cool plasma capability of an instrument may not be that important if the equivalent... 

In fact, these application limitations have led some vendors to reject the cool plasma approach in favor of collision/reaction cell technology. So, it could be that the cool plasma capability of an instrument may not be that important if the equivalent elements are superior using the collision/reaction cell option. However, you should proceed with caution in this area, because on the current evidence not aU collision/ reaction cell instruments offer the same kind of performance. For some instruments, cool plasma DLs are superior to the same group of elements determined in the collision cell mode. For that reason, an assessment of the suitability of using cool plasma conditions or collision/reaction cell technology for a particular application problan has to be made based on the vendor s recommendations. 

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