Representative Examples of Trace Element Determination via ICP-IDMS

Representative Examples of Trace Element Determination via ICP-IDMS 

1 Determination of Trace Amounts of Silicon in Biological Samples 

Similar problems are caused by losses of other analytes, which can be encountered when volatile compounds are produced. For example, losses of boron 

A more traditional technique was developed by Evans et cd., who determined the sulfur content in fossil fuels after microwave-assisted digestion of the sample, following equilibration with a S-enriched spike in a dosed vessel [35]. To avoid spectral overlap by the oxygen dimer ions (O2 ), the isotope ratio of the 

Digestion of fossil fuel samples is the most labor-intensive and time-consuming step in the analytical procedures described so far. Techniques with direct introduction of the isotope-diluted sample would therefore be much more attractive and suitable for use as routine methods. In this context, Heumann and co-workers developed two different methods which avoid the digestion step and rely on direct introduction of the isotope-diluted sample into the ICP. LA-ICP-IDMS was applied for the determination of sulfur and metals in petroleum products and crude oils [47, 48] and thermal vaporization (TV)-ICP-IDMS was used for the determination of trace amounts of sulfur in petroleum products [36]. To totally mix a petroleum or crude oil sample with the spike, the spike needs to be in an organic form. A S-labeled dibenzothiophene spike in xylene and isotope-enriched organometallic compounds of the metals of interest in isobutyl methyl ketone were used for LA-ICP-IDMS purposes. For sulfur determination via TV-ICP-IDMS, the same spike was applied, but n-hexane was used as the 

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