Electrothermal Vaporization — Inductively Coupled Plasma–Mass Spectrometry (ETV-ICP-MS): A Valuable Tool for Direct Multielement Determination in Solid Samples

Abstract

Solid Sampling-Electrothermal Vaporization-Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (SS-ETV-ICP-MS) is an attractive technique for the direct simultaneous determination of trace metals in solid samples. During recent years, some important developments dealing with ETV-ICP coupling and with analyte transport efficiencies have been reported, and so SS-ETV-ICP-MS has received a renewed interest by the atomic spectroscopy community. Thus, the present review highlights the inherent capabilities of SS-ETV-ICP-MS for the simultaneous determination of trace metals. In addition, technical aspects of ETV-ICP coupling as well as more recent applications are reported. It is concluded that this technique is a powerful tool for sorting out some of the current analytical challenges, and future advances are to be expected in order to widen the field of application.