ICP Solutions from XRF Scientific
Inductively coupled plasma (ICP) analysis involves ionizing analytes with high-temperature argon plasma and determining its elemental composition by analyzing the mass and charge of ionized particles. ICP processes are expensive and complex, requiring multiple instruments to maintain optimal experiment conditions and acquire resulting data. Such equipment includes spectroscopy systems, electromagnetic coils, and carefully prepared samples to ensure that analytes are high purity. If these stringent conditions are met, an ICP laboratory setup can detect almost any element from the periodic table at trace or major concentrations.
XRF Scientific offer complete solutions to support ICP laboratory processes. This article will explore how we can provide for your experiments in more detail:
Sample Preparation for ICP Analysis
In a typical ICP spectroscopic array, liquid samples are pneumatically nebulized and passed through argon plasma via a cold flow of gas, where they are vaporized and subsequently ionized. Large particles are unsuitable for ICP analysis, and larger liquid particles are separated from the analyte cross-flow in a spray chamber. This methodology presents difficulties for ICP analysis of solid samples.
Solid samples must be liquefied through dissolution, either by acid digestion or fusion methods. XRF Scientific provides a broad range of lithium tetraborate (Li2B4O7) and lithium metaborate (LiBO2) eutectic fusion mixtures for ICP sample preparation. These fluxes are non-hygroscopic in nature, retaining a consistently low water content of below 0.04% throughout fusion processes – thus maintaining excellent sample to flux ratios to ensure high quality analytical results.
Sustaining these exact ratios is crucial to experiment repeatability and accuracy, which is why XRF also provides a range of high throughput flux measurement equipment to maintain accurate sample preparation parameters. This equipment can perform ICP flux measurement tasks with exceptional degrees of accuracy to within 1mg, dosing predetermined amounts of a fusion flux mixture into platinum crucibles that can withstand the high temperatures of the dissolution process, which can range up to 1250°C.
When the platinum crucible has been dosed with the correct ratio of sample:flux, it is transferred to a fusion instrument equipped to prepare ICP solutions. XRF provides a range of electric fusion machines, including:
- xrFuse 1: with a ceramic cradle and versatile holders boasting zero contamination levels and high degrees of flexibility for both pre-heating and ICP processes;
- xrFuse 2: with programmable fusion parameters including a dual-stage cooling process;
- xrFuse 6: with a contamination-proof high-purity ceramic chamber capable of performing cold-to-cold operations.
This comprehensive range of ICP equipment is available for varying specifications, with product packages available to consolidate the costs of achieving the highest quality results.
ICP Solutions from XRF Scientific
XRF’s ICP sample preparation solutions are built upon 25 years’ experience with fusion technology. We are dedicated to improving laboratory throughput and results accuracy by providing the most accurate instrumentation possible to laboratory sites across the world.
If you would like any more information about our ICP solutions, please do not hesitate to contact us.
