An Electrothermal Sample Introduction System for ICP Spectrometry

In recent years the coupling of two or more analytical techniques to take advantage of their individual benefits has become quite popular and effective. Among these combined tools is the electrothermal atomizer with an inductively coupled plasma (ICP). In this merger the electrothermal device vaporizes the sample for introduction into the ICP where atomization and excitation occur, in contrast to the conventional electrothermal atomizer employed for atomic absorption spectrophotometry (AAS) in which vaporization and atomization are not separated. Recently there have been descriptions of electrothermal vaporization (ETV) techniques, with ICP spectrometry, that employ a graphite yarn, graphite rod, metal filaments (platinum, tantalum, and tungsten), a microarc, radio frequency arc, and spark. Also, commercial electrothermal atomizers (e.g., Instrumentation Laboratory IL655, Perkin Elmer HGA 74, and HGA 500) have been modified for direct electrothermal sample introduction into the ICP.