Determination of Ir and Pt down to the sub-femtogram per gram level in polar ice by ICP-SFMS using preconcentration and a desolvation system

Paolo Gabrielli; Anita Varga; Carlo Barbante; Claude Boutron; Giulio Cozzi; Vania Gaspari; Frédéric Planchon; Warren Cairns; Sungmin Hong; Christophe Ferrari; Gabriele Capodaglio

doi:10.1039/B316283D

Determination of Ir and Pt down to the sub-femtogram per gram level in polar ice by ICP-SFMS using preconcentration and a desolvation system†

Paolo Gabrielli,^ab Anita Varga,^b Carlo Barbante,*^bc Claude Boutron,^ad Giulio Cozzi,^b Vania Gaspari,^b Frédéric Planchon,^b Warren Cairns,^c Sungmin Hong,^e Christophe Ferrari^af and Gabriele Capodaglio^bc

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* Corresponding authors

^a Laboratoire de Glaciologie et Géophysique de l'Environnement du CNRS, 54 rue Molière, B.P. 96, 38402 St. Martin d'Heres cedex, France

^b Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Venice, Ca' Foscari, I-30123 Venice, Italy
E-mail: barbante@unive.it
Fax: +39-041-2348549
Tel: +39-041-2348942

^c Institute for the Dynamics of Environmental Processes-CNR, University of Venice, Ca' Foscari, I-30123 Venice, Italy

^d Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers et Unité de Formation et de Recherche de Physique (Institut Universitaire de France), Université Joseph Fourier, Domaine Universitaire, B.P. 68 38041 Grenoble, France

^e Korea Polar Research Institute, Korea Ocean Research & Development Institute, Ansan, PO Box 29, Seoul 425-600, Korea

^f Ècole Polytechnique Universitaire de Grenoble (Institut Universitaire de France), Université Joseph Fourier, 28 avenue Benoît Frachon, 38041 Grenoble, France

Abstract

A new analytical methodology, based on inductively coupled plasma sector field mass spectrometry (ICP-SFMS) coupled with a micro-flow nebulizer and desolvation system, has been set up for the quantification of Ir and Pt down to the sub-ppq level (1 ppq = 1 fg g⁻¹ = 10⁻¹⁵ g g⁻¹) in polar ice samples. Ultra-clean procedures were adopted during the pre-treatment phases in our laboratories in order to avoid possible contamination problems and a preconcentration step by evaporation at sub-boiling temperatures was necessary. A procedural detection limit of 0.02 ppq and 0.08 ppq for Ir and Pt, respectively, was obtained. The reproducibility of the analytical procedure at the ppq level was about 50% for Ir and 30% for Pt and the recoveries were 75% and 93% for Ir and Pt, respectively. Spectral interferences, which affect the determination of Ir and Pt, were reduced by using a desolvation system for sample introduction. The contribution of the interfering species was determined and subtracted. This new method allowed us to analyse Ir and Pt in remote uncontaminated ice samples from Antarctica and Greenland down to the sub-ppq level. The concentration ranges were from 0.1 up to 5 ppq for Ir and from 0.2 up to 7 ppq for Pt. These measurements represent the first data of Ir concentrations in unfiltered melted ice samples and the lowest concentrations ever recorded for Pt in environmental samples.

Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry

Determination of Ir and Pt down to the sub-femtogram per gram level in polar ice by ICP-SFMS using preconcentration and a desolvation system†

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Determination of Ir and Pt down to the sub-femtogram per gram level in polar ice by ICP-SFMS using preconcentration and a desolvation system

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