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MC‐ICP‐MS Isotope Measurements with Direct Injection Nebulisation (d‐DIHEN): Optimisation and Application to Boron in Seawater and Carbonate Samples
Author(s) -
Louvat Pascale,
Bouchez Julien,
Paris Guillaume
Publication year - 2011
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.2010.00057.x
Subject(s) - seawater , boron , isotopes of boron , analytical chemistry (journal) , repeatability , inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry , chemistry , carbonate , mineralogy , inductively coupled plasma , isotope , thorium , mass spectrometry , environmental chemistry , chromatography , materials science , geology , plasma , metallurgy , physics , oceanography , nuclear physics , organic chemistry , uranium
We report here an optimisation of the demountable direct injection high efficiency nebuliser (d‐DIHEN) for isotopic measurements with a Neptune (ThermoFisher Scientific, Bremen, Germany) multi‐collector inductively coupled plasma‐mass spectrometer (MC‐ICP‐MS) and describe a method for boron isotopic ratio determination. With direct injection nebulisation 100% of the analyte was introduced into the ICP‐MS plasma and wash times were drastically reduced for elements such as boron and thorium. Compared to the classical stable introduction system (SIS: double Scott/cyclonic spray chamber), sensitivity for boron was 2–5 times higher with d‐DIHEN and wash times up to ten times shorter. Repeatability of 11 B/ 10 B sample‐calibrator bracketing measurements reached 0.25‰ (2 s ) for seawater and coral samples. Method accuracy and reproducibility were tested on mixed reference solutions having δ 11 B values in the ranges −90 to +40‰ and −2 to +2.5‰, demonstrating our ability to distinguish δ 11 B values with differences of only 0.25‰. The international seawater reference material NRCC NASS‐5 (National Research Council, Ottawa, Canada), analysed in different sessions over a 10‐month period, yielded an average δ 11 B value of +39.89 ± 0.25‰, in the upper range of previously published seawater values. A comparison between δ 11 B determined by d‐DIHEN MC‐ICP‐MS and positive‐TIMS (P‐TIMS) for four modern corals showed an excellent agreement (with bias of less than 0.4‰).