Accurate Elemental Analysis of Metal‐Containing Polymer Latexes Using ICP‐Optical Emission Spectrometry

Abstract

Abstract The use of ICP‐OES to determine the metal content of metal‐complex‐containing colloidal dispersions is explored. Colloidal dispersions containing a defined amount of metal complex were produced by miniemulsion polymerization. It was found that simple ICP‐OES measurements yielded apparent metal concentrations significantly below the expected value. To examine the behavior of the colloidal dispersions in the ICP spectrometer, a systematic study on measurement conditions was performed. It was found that the addition of a surfactant to both colloidal dispersions and standards led to measured metal contents close to the theoretical value. Most reliable results were obtained using SDS in concentrations above the cmc. magnified image