Determination of 22 trace elements in high-purity copper including Se and Te by ETV-ICP OES using SF6, NF3, CF4 and H2 as chemical modifiers

Abstract

In supplementary work to the one published earlier, experiments with SF₆, NF₃, CF₄ and H₂ as new modifier gases for the matrix studied were performed. Our investigations were continued to improve the described analytical method and to achieve additional insights into the mechanism of analyte release. Our new survey is split in two parts. At first fluorinating modifiers were used to investigate the behaviour of a variety of trace elements (Ag, Al, As, Au, Bi, Cd, Co, Cr, Fe, Mg, Mn, Ni, P, Pb, Sb, Se, Si, Sn, Te, Ti, Zn and Zr). Most of them (exceptions Au, Se, and Te) could be effectively released from the copper matrix by thermo-halogenation reactions and by partial sub-sample evaporation. Using SF₆ and NF₃ as modifier gases, low limits of quantification (LOQs) were achieved for the 19 well released trace elements (typical ≤0.1 mg kg⁻¹). Most elements (exceptions Ag, Mg, and Ni) could be calibrated by using aqueous calibration solutions without any sample pretreatment. For the trace determination of Se, Te, and Au, a further analytical method of ETV-ICP OES is described in the second part based on thermo-hydrogenation reactions by using a hydrogen/argon mixture as a modifier gas. The determination of Se and Te with very high analytical performance (LOQ < 0.1 mg kg⁻¹) can either be carried out in a second analytical step succeeding the halogenation procedure, or the sub-sample is directly treated with H₂ without previous halogenation procedure whereby the sub-sample can either be partially or totally evaporated. In this case some other analytes (Ag, Au, As, Bi, Cd, Fe, Mg, Ni, Pb, Sb, Sn, and Zn) can additionally be quantified simultaneously with Se and Te.