TY - JOUR A1 - Hassler, J. A1 - Barth, P. A1 - Richter, Silke A1 - Matschat, Ralf T1 - Determination of trace elements in high-purity copper by ETV-ICP OES using halocarbons as chemical modifiers N2 - Inspired by the globule arc technique a new electrothermal vaporization inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ETV-ICP OES) method was developed for the analysis of high-purity copper materials. The performance of the method was investigated for the analytes Ag, Al, As, Bi, Cd, Co, Cr, Fe, Mg, Mn, Ni, P, Pb, S, Sb, Se, Si, Sn, Te, Ti, Zn and Zr. ETV parameters were optimized regarding the release of the analytes, the transport efficiency and the quality of analytical results in terms of precision, trueness and power of detection. The influence of CCl2F2, CHClF2, C2H2F4 and CHF3 as gaseous halogenation modifiers was investigated. A sufficient in situ analyte matrix separation was achieved by using CHF3 as halogenating reagent avoiding a high matrix input from the molten copper sample into the ETV system and the plasma. A complete release from the samples was obtained for all investigated analytes except Se and Te. Acceptable results for the determination of the trace elements Ag, Al, As, Bi, Cd, Co, Cr, Fe, Mg, Mn, Ni, P, Pb, S, Sb, Si, Sn, Ti, Zn and Zr in high-purity copper were achieved. The method includes a preceding sample preparation step of oxidizing the surface of copper samples which results in a significantly enhanced sensitivity. In addition to the calibration with copper samples, the feasibility of the calibration with liquid multi-element solutions was investigated. Except for Ag, Mg and Ni all analytes could be analyzed using aqueous calibration solutions. The trueness of the method was tested by the determination of analyte contents of certified reference materials. Limits of quantification ranging from 0.6 ng g-1 to 29 ng g-1 were achieved. The developed direct solid sampling method is time and cost effective and well suited for the characterization of high-purity copper materials. The method can be automated to a large extent and is applicable for processes accompanying analyses. In contrast to all other investigated trace elements, Se and Te were not released from the matrix at measurable levels under the used conditions. The determination of these elements is still under investigation and will be reported in a succeeding publication. KW - ETV KW - Copper KW - Impurities PY - 2011 DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/c1ja10149h SN - 0267-9477 SN - 1364-5544 VL - 26 IS - 12 SP - 2404 EP - 2418 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry CY - London AN - OPUS4-29615 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Matschat, Ralf A1 - Hassler, J. A1 - Richter, Silke A1 - Kleve, M. A1 - Dette, A. T1 - Multielement trace analysis of pure graphite powders using optical emission spectrometry coupled to a magnetically stabilized DC arc supplied with halogenating gases as chemical modifiers – a rapid and robust methodology N2 - A magnetically stabilized DC arc device, designed for operation with OES spectrometers was used to determine the elements Ag, Al, B, Ba, Be, Ca, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Ga, In, K, Li, Mg, Mn, Mo, Na, Nb, Ni, Si, Sn, Sr, Ti, V, Zr at trace levels of some μg kg−1 up to some 10 mg kg−1 in graphite powders. The coil for the generation of the homogeneous magnetic field was placed outside the closed arc chamber. The time programs of variable current strengths of the magnetic coil (up to 6 A) and of the arc (up to 17 A) which was burning in air were computer controlled. Halogenating gases (mainly CCl2F2, alternatively SF6 and NF3) were used as chemical modifiers to allow an effective release of the carbide forming trace elements. The mass flow controlled modifier gas was led through a special carrier electrode near the arc plasma. The emission radiation was guided by an optical fiber alternatively into two different ICP spectrometers in which the ICP torches were removed. The synergistic interaction of the magnetic field with the halogenating modifier gases resulted in a significant improvement in the analytical performance of the optimized analytical method. All our results for 22 trace elements were in good agreement with the means of an inter-laboratory comparison by BAM for certification of a pure graphite powder material; this holds also for our results for two other graphite materials. The optimized method showed an analytical performance suitable for comprehensive trace analysis of pure graphite. The instrumentation could be integrated into modern DC arc emission spectrometers to improve their analytical capabilities substantially. KW - Graphit KW - DC-Arc KW - High purity KW - Optical emission spectroscopy KW - Magnetically stabilized PY - 2018 DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/C7JA00387K SN - 1364-5544 SN - 0267-9477 VL - 33 IS - 3 SP - 468 EP - 480 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry AN - OPUS4-44398 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Hassler, J A1 - Matschat, Ralf A1 - Richter, Silke A1 - Barth, P. A1 - Detcheva, A.K. A1 - Waarlo, H.-J. T1 - Determination of 22 trace elements in high-purity copper including Se and Te by ETV-ICP OES using SF6, NF3, CF4 and H2 as chemical modifiers N2 - In supplementary work to the one published earlier, experiments with SF6, NF3, CF4 and H2 as new modifier gases for the matrix studied were performed. Our investigations were continued to improve the described analytical method and to achieve additional insights into the mechanism of analyte release. Our new survey is split in two parts. At first fluorinating modifiers were used to investigate the behaviour of a variety of trace elements (Ag, Al, As, Au, Bi, Cd, Co, Cr, Fe, Mg, Mn, Ni, P, Pb, Sb, Se, Si, Sn, Te, Ti, Zn and Zr). Most of them (exceptions Au, Se, and Te) could be effectively released from the copper matrix by thermo-halogenation reactions and by partial sub-sample evaporation. Using SF6 and NF3 as modifier gases, low limits of quantification (LOQs) were achieved for the 19 well released trace elements (typical ≤0.1 mg kg-1). Most elements (exceptions Ag, Mg, and Ni) could be calibrated by using aqueous calibration solutions without any sample pretreatment. For the trace determination of Se, Te, and Au, a further analytical method of ETV-ICP OES is described in the second part based on thermo-hydrogenation reactions by using a hydrogen/argon mixture as a modifier gas. The determination of Se and Te with very high analytical performance (LOQ < 0.1 mg kg-1) can either be carried out in a second analytical step succeeding the halogenation procedure, or the sub-sample is directly treated with H2 without previous halogenation procedure whereby the sub-sample can either be partially or totally evaporated. In this case some other analytes (Ag, Au, As, Bi, Cd, Fe, Mg, Ni, Pb, Sb, Sn, and Zn) can additionally be quantified simultaneously with Se and Te. KW - Pure Cu material KW - Electrothermal vaporization KW - Optical-emission spectrometry KW - Plasma-mass-spectrometry KW - Atomic-absorption spectrophotometry KW - Graphite-furnace AAS KW - Pure copper KW - Spectrochemical analysis KW - Precise determination KW - Sample introduction KW - Silicon-carbide PY - 2016 DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/C5JA00240K SN - 0267-9477 SN - 1364-5544 VL - 31 IS - 3 SP - 642 EP - 657 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry CY - London AN - OPUS4-35133 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -