Spark source mass spectrometry SSMS

Spark Source Mass Spectrometry (SSMS) is a method of trace level analysis—less than 1 part per million atomic (ppma)—in which a solid material, in the form of two conducting electrodes, is vaporized and ionized by a high-voltage radio frequency spark in vacuum. The ions produced from the sample electrodes are accelerated into a mass spectrometer, separated according to their mass-to-charge ratio, and collected for qualitative identification and quantitative analysis. 

Because GDMS can provide ultratrace analysis with total elemental coverage, the technique fills a unique analytical niche, supplanting Spark-Source Mass Spectrometry (SSMS) by supplying the same analysis with an order-of-magnitude better accuracy and orders-of-magnitude improvement in detection limits. GDMS analy-... 

Principles and Characteristics The original idea of spark-source mass spectrometry (SSMS) is due to Dempster [356], long before the first commercial instruments. In spark-source MS, atomisation and ionisation... 

Actinide metal samples are characterized by chemical and structure analysis. Multielement analysis by spark source mass spectrometry (SSMS) or inductively coupled argon plasma (ICAP) emission spectroscopy have lowered the detection limit for metallic impurities by 10 within the last two decades. The analysis of O, N, H by vacuum fusion requires large sample, but does not distinguish between bulk and surface of the material. Advanced techniques for surface analysis are being adapted for investigation of radioactive samples (Fig. 11) ... 

Table 9.4 Result of trace analysis of high purity indium and zinc measured by spark source mass spectrometry (SSMS) and glow discharge mass spectrometry (GDMS), respectively.

For many decades, spark source mass spectrometry (SSMS) was the method of choice for survey analyses of quite different types of geological materials, especially for the sensitive multi-element... 

Analysis of the samples for elemental constituents was performed using instrumented neutron activation analysis (NAA) and spark source mass spectrometry (SSMS) (2). In addition, the many mercury determinations were made by flameless atomic absorption (AA). 

Spark source mass spectrometry (SSMS) is also a multielement technique. Conventionally the data obtained are semiquantitative, and the results have an uncertainty of 50% or less. If the stable isotope dilution technique is performed, the SSMS can be 3%. This latter technique was used for lead, cadmium, and zinc as noted in the results tabulations. NAA and SSMS complement each other quite well, and those elements for which one technique has poor sensitivity can usually be measured by the other. 

Spark-source mass spectrometry (SSMS) has been used extensively in the determination of trace elements in coal. Whole coal samples as well as ash residues, fly ash, and coal dust have been analyzed using this technique. 

Techniques for analysis and sample preparation have been developed for using spark source mass spectrometry (SSMS) to study archaeological samples. Comparative studies of neutron activation and SSMS on identical samples have been made. The technique is used to determine the ores of origin of two series of early Peruvian artifacts. 

Although platinum was introduced to Europe in the mid-18th century, it was first made commercially available in large quantities and in malleable form in 1805 by the English chemist William Hyde Wollaston. Previous attempts at consistently producing malleable metal were hindered by chemical purification techniques that gave platinum contaminated with deleterious metallic impurities. Richard KnighPs improved process of 1800 was carried out on a suitable sample of crude ore, and analysis of the purified platinum by spark source mass spectrometry (SSMS) indicates an impurity level of about 6%. Reconstruction of Wollaston s purification procedures, coupled with SSMS analysis, indicates that his product was over 98% pure. His superior chemical purification techniques, coupled with improvements in the powder consolidation method, explain Wollastons success. 

Spectral methods (spark source mass spectrometry SSMS, secondary ion mass spectrometry SIMS, inductively coupled argon plasma for emission spectroscopy ICAP-ES) which avoid separation steps are increasingly applied for multi-element analysis. Hot extraction is used for 0, N, H determinations. Oxygen is also determined by activation analysis, nitrogen after adaptation of classical methods (micro-Kjeldahl). Combination and comparison of different, independent methods are desirable, but hampered by the often limited availability of samples of actinides. 

Spark source mass spectrometry (SSMS)i was (irsi introduced in the I930s as a general tool for multielement and i.sotope trace analyses. Ii was n(ti until lO.sS. however, that the first commercial spark source atomic mass spectrometer appeared on the market. After a period of rapid development in the 1960s. the use of this technique leveled off and then declined with the appearance of ICPMS and some of the other mass specironietric methods discussed in this chapter. C ur-remly, SSMS is still applied to samples that are not easily dissolved and analyzed by ICP. 

In the biological area, spark source mass spectrometry (SSMS) is an ideal tool for trace elemental analysis. First, the sample is ashed by strong heating or by a microwave discharge in oxygen to remove the organic material. The residue is then... 

Jochum K.P., Seufert HM. and ThirlwaU M.F., 1990, Hlgh-sensitivi Nb analysis by spark source mass spectrometry (SSMS) and calibration of XRF Nb and Zr. Chem. Geol., 81, 1-16. 

Mass spectrometry is used to provide qualitative and quantitative chemical analysis. For ceramics we are mainly interested in analyzing solids, so a method for ionizing the material is necessary. In spark source mass spectrometry (SSMS) we use a high-voltage spark in a vacuum. The positive ions that are produced are analyzed by the spectrometer based on their mass. For insulating ceramics the material must be mixed with a conducting powder such as graphite or silver. Other methods can be used to ionize the sample ... 

Beske, H.E., Hiurle, A., Jochum, K.P (1981) Part I. Principles of spark source mass spectrometry (SSMS). 

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