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Accurate and Precise Elemental Abundance of Zinc in Reference Materials by an Isotope Dilution Mass Spectrometry TIMS Technique
Author(s) -
Ghidan Osama Y.,
Loss Robert D.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
geostandards and geoanalytical research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.037
H-Index - 73
eISSN - 1751-908X
pISSN - 1639-4488
DOI - 10.1111/j.1751-908x.2010.00026.x
Subject(s) - isotope dilution , thermal ionization mass spectrometry , isotope , mass spectrometry , chemistry , certified reference materials , analytical chemistry (journal) , natural abundance , zinc , atomic mass , thermal ionization , environmental chemistry , radiochemistry , detection limit , ionization , chromatography , ion , physics , organic chemistry , electron ionization , nuclear physics , quantum mechanics
A thermal ionisation mass spectrometric technique enabled the abundance of Zn in geological and biological reference materials and water samples to be measured by double spiking isotope dilution mass spectrometry enriched in the 67 Zn and 70 Zn isotopes. In the past, thermal ionisation mass spectrometry proved to be difficult for low‐level zinc isotopic measurements. The size of Zn samples used for isotopic determination, in particular the biological RMs, represents an important breakthrough. These results represent the most accurate and precise concentrations measured for Zn in these samples. The maximum fractional uncertainty was that for TILL‐3 (2%), while the minimum fractional uncertainty was 0.7% for both BCR‐1 and W‐2. The inhomogeneity of Zn in HISS‐1 was revealed while other reference materials appeared homogeneous at the 95% confidence uncertainty. The certified concentration of Zn in HISS‐1 and IMEP‐19 by their producers are 28% and 3.8% higher than the values measured in this work. These are the first Zn concentration measurements in these materials by the isotope dilution‐TIMS technique, except for BCR‐1, NIES N o 9 and IMEP‐19. Reducing the blank enabled accurate measurement in water at the ng g ‐1 level demonstrating the applicability of the technique for low‐level Zn samples.