induced coupled plasma

Question 1

what is a plasma

Answer 1

a gas that contains ions and free electrons

Question 2

what do the free electric charges do?

Answer 2

make the plasma electrically conductive so that it responds strongly to electromagnetic fields

Question 3

for ICP what is used to produce plasma

Answer 3

argon

Question 4

is plasma an electrical discharge or a chemical flame

Answer 4

electrical discharge

Question 5

how is plasma generated

Answer 5

through inductive coupling of free electrons with rapidly oscillating external magnetic field

energy is transferred collisionally to organ molecules

Question 6

plasma at atmospheric pressure allows what

Answer 6

high temperatures

Question 7

plasma temperature range between what

Answer 7

6000K and 10000K

Question 8

why use argon plasma

Answer 8

it is inert
not expensive
obtained at very high purity
first ionisation potential higher than most others
second ionisation potential lower than most others

Question 9

since the plasma environment is define by the Ar….

Answer 9

most analyte elements are efficiently singly charged

Question 10

what happens when a time-varying electric current is passed through the coil

Answer 10

it creates a time varying magnetic field around it, which in turn induces electric currents in the rarefied gas, leading to break down and formation of a plasma

Question 11

are ICP discharges of high or low electron density

Answer 11

high

Question 12

what does ICP-MS stand for

Answer 12

Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectroscopy

Question 13

what does ICP-OES stand for

Answer 13

Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry

Question 14

what does ICP-AES stand for

Answer 14

Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrometry

Question 15

what are ICP-OES and ICP-MS used for

Answer 15

bulk elemental chemical analysis of just about any material or substance

Question 16

what are the exceptions of the periodic table that ICP-OES and ICP-MS can’t measure

Answer 16

H, O, N, F, Cl

Question 17

concentrations from what to what can be measured in solution using ICP-OES and ICP-MS

Answer 17

from major to parts per billion and even parts per trillion in solution

Question 18

what is ICP-AES

Answer 18

a type of emission spectroscopy that uses a plasma to produce excited atoms that emit electromagnetic radiation at a wavelength characteristic of a particular element.

The intensity of this emission is indicative of the concentration of the element within the sample.

Question 19

what is ICP-MS

Answer 19

technique based on coupling together an ICP as a method of producing ions with a mass spectrometer as a method of separating and detecting the ions.

Question 20

what is ICP-MS used for

Answer 20

quantitative multi-elemental analysis and stable isotopic rationing

Question 21

6 advantages of ICP-MS

Answer 21

excellent detection limit
wide elemental coverage
all elements determined simultaneously
wide dynamic range
routine technique
small size instrument

Question 22

ICP-MS vs ICP-OES

Answer 22

MS much simpler than the optical emission spectra. Most heavy elements exhibit hundreds of emission lines, but they have only 1-10 natural isotopes in the mass spectrum.

ICP-OES suffers from many overlapping spectral interferences from other elements and a very high background emission from the plasma itself, limiting detection limits.

Detection limits of ICP-MS are three orders of magnitude better than ICP-OES.