Trace analysis of high-purity graphite by LA-ICP-MS

Laser-ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) has been established as a very efficient and sensitive technique for the direct analysis of solids. In this work the capability of LA-ICP-MS was investigated for determination of trace elements in high-purity graphite. Synthetic laboratory standards with a graphite matrix were prepared for the purpose of quantifying the analytical results. Doped trace elements, concentration 0.5 mug g(-1), in a laboratory standard were determined with an accuracy of 1% to 7% and a relative standard deviation (RSD) of 2-13%. Solution-based calibration was also used for quantitative analysis of high-purity graphite. It was found that such calibration led to analytical results for trace-element determination in graphite with accuracy similar to that obtained by use of synthetic laboratory standards for quantification of analytical results. Results from quantitative determination of trace impurities in a real reactor-graphite sample, using both quantification approaches, were in good agreement. Detection limits for all elements of interest were determined in the low ng g(-1) concentration range. Improvement of detection limits by a factor of 10 was achieved for analyses of high-purity graphite with LA-ICP-MS under wet plasma conditions, because the lower background signal and increased element sensitivity.