ICP-AES as a Multiple Element Detector for Metal Chelates Separated by HPLC

Abstract

ICP-AES was used for the simultaneous multiple element detection of trace metals species separated by high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC). The technique is demonstrated for the determination of nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA) and ethylenedia-minetetraacetic acid (EDTA) chelates of copper, zinc, calcium, and magnesium. Multi-element chromatograms were obtained using a 32-channel polychromator programmed to perform a series of time-resolved intensity integrations. Data were retrieved channel-by-channel and plotted in histographic form. Comparison with UV absorbance and single-channel ICP-AES tracings reveals that the histograms reflect reliable chromatographic data. Linearity and precision of the system were found to be good in the 20 to 2000 ng range.