Evaluation of a flow injection system combined with an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer with thermospray nebulization for the determination of trace levels of platinum

In this paper the coupling of a flow injection system to an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer using thermospray nebulization for the determination of platinum is evaluated. The results are compared with pneumatic nebulization. The flow injection system provides the possibility of on-line sample dilution and on-line standardization. A comparative study was made between on-line isotope dilution, on-line standard additions and external calibration emphasizing accuracy, precision and flexibility of the method. Several parameters of thermospray and flow injection were evaluated. Sensitivity, background and detection limits were studied as well as the peak integration method to be used with the flow injection system. The detection limits, using flow injection (200 μl loop) and partial integration of the peak, were in the range of 25 ng/l (5 pg absolute) and 8 ng/l (2 pg absolute) for pneumatic and thermospray nebulization, respectively. The optimized procedure was used for the analysis of Pt in corn leaves, mouse liver and a Ca3(PO4)2 matrix.