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Comparison of methods to determine triple oxygen isotope composition of N 2 O
Author(s) -
Dyckmans Jens,
LewickaSzczebak Dominika,
Szwec Lars,
Langel Reinhard,
Well Reinhard
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
rapid communications in mass spectrometry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.528
H-Index - 136
eISSN - 1097-0231
pISSN - 0951-4198
DOI - 10.1002/rcm.7311
Subject(s) - chemistry , corundum , analytical chemistry (journal) , microwave , quartz , oxygen , isotope ratio mass spectrometry , isotope , isotopes of oxygen , mass spectrometry , microwave oven , nitrogen , oxide , tube (container) , mineralogy , nuclear chemistry , chromatography , mechanical engineering , paleontology , physics , organic chemistry , quantum mechanics , engineering , biology
Rationale The oxygen isotope anomaly, Δ 17 O, of N 2 O and nitrate is useful to elucidate nitrogen oxide dynamics. A comparison of different methods for Δ 17 O measurement was performed. Methods For Δ 17 O measurements, N 2 O was converted into O 2 and N 2 using microwave‐induced plasma in a quartz or corundum tube reactor, respectively, or conversion was carried out in a gold wire oven. In each case, isotope ratios were measured by isotope ratio mass spectrometry. Results All the tested methods showed acceptable precision (coefficient of variation <2.4 % at 160 nmol N 2 O) with high sample size but the sample size dependence was lowest when using microwave‐induced plasma in a corundum tube reactor. Conclusions The use of microwave‐induced plasma in a corundum tube yields best results for Δ 17 O measurement on N 2 O gas samples. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.