Influence of Instrument Parameters on Nonspectroscopic Interferences in Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry

Abstract

The effect of ion lens voltage settings and plasma conditions on nonspectroscopic interferences has been studied. The change in ion count rate for 7Li, 10B, 45Sc, and 89Y in the presence of Na, K, Sr, and Cs under a variety of experimental conditions is reported. The ion lens voltage setting did not affect the degree of nonspectroscopic interferences with the use of the Einzel ion optic system. Suppression effects were increased when the power was increased and the sampling depth decreased. Changes in nebulizer pressure resulted in interference trends, which varied with the concomitant element being studied. Sodium caused a decrease in interference effects with increasing nebulizer pressure, whereas Cs caused an increase under the same experimental conditions. Suppression of analyte ion count rate increased with increasing sample solution uptake rate and increasing atomic mass of concomitant elements.