Development of a high liquid flow thermospray sample introduction system for inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry. Invited lecture

Abstract

This work describes preliminary results of research devoted to the development of thermospray sample introduction systems that are capable of operating with liquid flow rates of 10 ml min^–1, or more. This development involved the modification of a thermospray power supply to provide about 1 kW of power, and longer vaporizers to increase the residence time of the liquid stream within the heated portion of the system. Use of this system with ICP-AES resulted in sensitivity increases of about a factor of two, when sample flow rates were increased from 2 to 5 ml min^–1. Prospects for further improvement are also described.