Flow injection inductively coupled plasma-emission spectrometry system

Cox and Mcleod66 passed their water samples through activated alumina microcolumns in the field, isolating and retaining both Cr(III) and Cr(VI) species. The microcolumns were then returned to the laboratory and inserted into a flow injection inductively coupled plasma-emission spectrometry (FI-ICP-ES) system for elution and quantification (the lowest results reported are around 40 nM). The pretreatment of the microcolumns and the FI-ICP-ES method was, however, complicated and time-consuming. Recently, Dogutan et al.67 and Latif et al.68 preconcentrated the Cr species on an exchange column and first eluted one species, and subsequently both of them. 

For these techniques, a dissolved sample is usually employed in the analysis to form a liquid spray which is delivered to an atomiser e.g. a flame or electrically generated plasma). Concerning optical spectrometry, techniques based on photon absorption, photon emission and fluorescence will be described (Section 1.2), while for mass spectrometry (MS) particular attention will be paid to the use of an inductively coupled plasma (TCP) as the atomisation/ionisation source (Section 1.3). The use of on-line coupled systems to the above liquid analysis techniques such as flow injection manifolds and chromatographic systems will be dealt with in Section 1.4 because they have become commonplace in most laboratories, opening up new opportunities for sample handling and pretreatment and also to obtain element-specific molecular information. 

B.F. Reis, M.F. Cine, F.J. Krug, H. Bergamin-Filho, Multipurpose flow-injection system. Part 1. Programmable dilutions and standard additions for plant digests analysis by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry, J. Anal. At. Spectrom. 7 (1992) 865. 

R. R. Liversage, J. C. van Loon, and J. C. de Andrade, A Flow Injection/ Hydride Generation System for the Determination of Arsenic by Inductively-Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrometry. Anal. Chim. Acta, 161 (1984) 275. 

S. D. Hartenstein, G. D. Christian, and J. Riiiidka, Applications of an On-Line Preconcentrating Flow Injection Analysis System for Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrometry. Can. J. Spectrosc., 30 (1986) 144. 

Although originally FIA was conceived as a special technique for delivery of a sample segment into the instrument, the combination of flow injection as a sample pretreatment tool with atomic spectrometry has been shown to be of great potential for enhancing the selectivity and sensitivity of the measurements. Moreover, contamination problems are reduced due to the closed system used, making this interface suitable for ultratrace determination of metal species. Hyphenated techniques such as FIA/ SIA with flame atomic absorption spectrometry, inductively coupled plasma (ICP)-optical emission spectrometry, and ICP-mass spectrometry (MS) have been exploited extensively in recent years. The major attraction of FIA-ICP-MS is its exceptional multi-elemental sensitivity combined with high speed of analysis. In addition, the possibility of... 

Correct design and downscaling of the normal flow injection system allow the incorporation of a variety of analytical techniques for the detection of different chemical species. Electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry (Wang and Chen, 2008), inductively couple plasma atomic emission spectroscopy or mass spectrometry (Wang and Hansen, 2001), electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (Ogata et al., 2002, 2004), and chro-matographic/electrophoretic column separation systems coupled to UV-Vis or mass spec-trometric detection (Wu et al., 2003 Quintana et al., 2006) are among the detection and separation systems that have been coupled with flow injection devices. 

A.O. Jacintho, E.A.G. Zagatto, H. Bergamin-Filho, F.J. Krug, B.F. Reis, R.E. Bruns, B.R. Kowalski, Flow injection systems with inductively-coupled argon plasma atomic emission spectrometry. Part 1. Fundamental considerations, Anal. Chim. Acta 130 (1981) 243. 

E. A. G. Zagatto, A. O. Jacintho, F. J. Krug, B. F. Reis, R. E. Bruns, and M. C. U. Araujo, Flow Injection Systems with Inductively-Coupled Argon Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrometry. Part 2. The Generalized Standard Addition Method. Anal, Chim. Acta, 145 (1983) 169. 

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