Comparison of flame, electrothermal and inductively coupled plasma atomisation techniques for the direct analysis of slurries

Abstract

A comparison is made between the use of flame, electrothermal and inductively coupled plasma atomisation techniques for the analysis of slurries. For flame atomisation, pulsed nebulisation must be used and for inductively coupled plasma atomisation a high-solids cross-flow nebuliser is essential. The results show that atomisation efficiency in nebuliser-based systems is dependent on sample transport efficiency, particle size, atomisation temperature and sample matrix. For analytical determinations it is necessary to grind the sample to a particle size of less than 10 µm and to use standards that are closely matched to the samples. For electrothermal atomisation, particle-size effects become significant only above 25 µm when sampling becomes the major source of error.