Detection of Bromine by ICP-oa-ToF-MS Following Photochemical Vapor Generation

A unique flow-through photochemical reactor is utilized for the generation of volatile methyl bromide from aqueous solutions of bromide and bromate ions in a medium of 2% acetic acid containing 3000 μg/mL NH4Cl. The volatile product is transported to a thin-film gas-liquid phase separator and directed to an inductively coupled plasma (ICP) tine-of-flight mass spectrometer for detection and quantitation using either of the (79)Br or (81)Br isotopes. Utilizing a sample flow rate of 3.3 mL/min and a 13 s irradiation time, a detection limit of 0.14 ng/mL is achieved, yielding a 17-fold enhancement over conventional solution nebulization. The estimated generation efficiency of 95% provides for a significant increase in analyte transport efficiency to the ICP. Precision of replicate measurement is 2.5% (RSD) at 20 ng/mL. The methodology was validated by successful determination of bromine in reference materials, including IRMM (BCR-611) low level bromide in groundwater, NIST SRM 1568b Rice Flour, and SRM 1632 bituminous coal.