Thermo Fisher Scientific Publishes Poster on the Capability of Collision Cell-based ICP-MS

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has announced the availability of a technical poster demonstrating the capability of collision cell-based inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) to perform complete multi-elemental analyses of environmental and geological samples. The technical poster is available free-of-charge via www.thermo.com/cct-poster.

Traditionally, ICP-MS is the preferred technique in routine environmental laboratories, due to its wide elemental coverage, high sensitivity and increased speed of analysis. The use of the powerful collision cell methodology in conjunction with ICP-MS has made it possible to minimize spectroscopic interferences and improve sample throughput.

Using a universal gas mixture for all analytes, the Thermo Scientific XSERIES 2 collision cell-based ICP-MS analyzer offers flexibility and performance for the analysis of a variety of common environmental and geological sample matrices.

The technical poster demonstrates how the addition of methane to the nebulizer gas considerably improves sensitivity for analytes with a high ionization potential such as Be, As and Se, which are often present at lower concentrations in environmental samples.

Additionally, through the use of a segmented flow sample introduction system (FAST, Elemental Scientific Inc.), which decreases uptake and washout time, sample throughput is increased while matrix deposition on the ICP-MS interface is significantly reduced, leading to increased first-time passes during QC analyses and uninterrupted operation for a longer period.

This topic was also recently presented by Thermo Fisher Scientific during a webinar. It demonstrated current methods to address the fundamental limitations of ICP-MS using a combination of the latest available technologies. The methods are discussed in the context of multi-element analysis of environmental and geological samples using collision cell based ICP-MS.

The webinar is run by Julian Wills, senior applications specialist for XSERIES 2, ELEMENT 2 and ELEMENT XR, Thermo Fisher Scientific and Paul Watson, European applications support specialist, Elemental Scientific Inc. (ESI). An on-demand version of the webinar is available via www.spectroscopynow.com/thermowebinars.