Here we describe the first study of a nitrogen based inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry system in conjunction with laser ablation (LA-(N₂-ICP)-MS). Therefore, a microwave-sustained, inductively coupled, atmospheric-pressure plasma source was mounted onto the interface of a quadrupole ICP-MS to investigate the capabilities of such an instrument. The proof of concept study was focused on the quantification capabilities of major to trace elements. Therefore, the plasma background species under dry plasma conditions were investigated to identify the most suitable isotopes for the analysis and to describe the newly formed nitrogen plasma interferences. In addition, the instrumental drift was investigated. Selected elements in the reference materials NIST SRM 612 and BCR-2G were quantified using NIST SRM 610 as an external standard and could be determined within the uncertainty of the reference values. Finally, the limits of detection for LA-(N₂-ICP)-MS and LA-(Ar-ICP)-MS were compared indicating similar or even lower LODs for most elements using LA-(N₂-ICP)-MS. Therefore, a nitrogen plasma source coupled to a mass spectrometer could challenge the argon-sustained ICP-MS in element analysis by overcoming argon interferences and has the potential to reduce the plasma gas expenses significantly.

中文翻译：

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使用氮等离子体源的 LA-ICP-MS

在这里，我们描述了结合激光烧蚀 (LA- (N ₂-ICP) -MS)。因此，在四极杆 ICP-MS 的接口上安装了微波持续感应耦合大气压等离子体源，以研究此类仪器的性能。概念验证研究的重点是主要元素到微量元素的量化能力。因此，研究了干等离子体条件下的等离子体背景物质，以确定最适合分析的同位素，并描述新形成的氮等离子体干扰。此外，还研究了仪器漂移。使用 NIST SRM 610 作为外标对参考材料 NIST SRM 612 和 BCR-2G 中的选定元素进行定量，并可以在参考值的不确定度范围内确定。最后，LA- (N ₂-ICP) -MS 和 LA- (Ar-ICP) -MS 进行了比较，表明使用 LA- (N ₂ -ICP) -MS 的大多数元素的 LOD 相似甚至更低。因此，与质谱仪耦合的氮等离子体源可以通过克服氩干扰来挑战元素分析中的氩持续 ICP-MS，并有可能显着降低等离子气体费用。