Determination of iron and nickel in electronic grade chlorine by sealed inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry

Abstract

A sealed inductively coupled plasma was used to determine the concentration of Fe and Ni in electronic grade chlorine. Since the discharge was formed inside a quartz container, factors such as toxicity, corrosion and contamination were not of primary concern. The system was calibrated for iron using two different standard materials, a ferrocene permeation tube and iron pentacarbonyl in argon. Under flowing conditions the detection limits (3σ_b) were 290 and 20 pg ml^–1 for iron pentacarbonyl and ferrocene, respectively. A nickelocene permeation tube was used for the determination of Ni that resulted in a detection limit (3σ_b) of 9 pg ml^–1. Parameters that affect the signal intensity and reproducibility, such as forward power, wash-out time, flow rate and external cooling, were optimized.