ABSTRACT
The majority of ICP-MS applications carried out today involve the analysis of liquid samples. Even though the technique has been adapted over the years to handle solids and slurries, it was developed in the early 1980s primarily to analyze solutions. There are many different ways of introducing a liquid into an ICP mass spectrometer, but they all basically achieve the same result, and that is to generate a fine aerosol of the sample, so it can be efficiently ionized in the plasma discharge. The sample introduction area has been called the “Achilles Heel” of ICP-MS, because it is considered the weakest component of the instrument-with only 1−2% of the sample finding its way into the plasma [1]. Although there has recently been much improvement in this area, the fundamental design of an ICP-MS sample introduction system has not dramatically changed since the technique was first introduced in 1983.
