Acid retardation method in analysis of strongly acidic solutions by inductively coupled plasma mass-spectrometry

• The acid retardation technique is used for decreasing the acidity of the solutions.
• Anion-exchange resin and the Stirosorb 584 were tested for separation elements and HNO3.
• Elements come out quantitatively after pumping 2–4 mL of the highly acidic solution.
• Anomalous behaviour of Ag, Pb, Th and U on the AV-17 resin was found.

Acid retardation on the sorbents as a technique for reduction of the acidity of the solutions prior to their analysis by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry was proposed and investigated. The proposed scheme provides substantial separation of the analytes and nitric acid, which allows direct introduction of the eluates in plasma without dilution. Two sorbents were examined – AV-17 anion-exchange resin and the Stirosorb 584 sorbent. Sorption and desorption of 38 elements on these sorbents were investigated. The efficiencies of the REEs' sorption on the anion-exchange and neutral sorbents were compared. The higher efficiency of the REEs and HNO3 separation was revealed for the neutral Stirosorb 584 sorbent. It was also found that most elements come out quantitatively of the column filled with the AV-17 resin after pumping 2–4 mL of the solution. Wherein, the concentration of nitric acid decreased by 20 times. The anomalous behaviour of Ag, Pb, Th and U on the AV-17 resin was found. These analytes were eluted only after pumping 4 column volumes of deionized water. Na, K, Fe, Al and Li in concentrations within (50–1000 mg L−1) range did not affect the recovery of REEs. The potential of ARM technique was demonstrate by the analysis of puriss. HNO3 and silverware. ARM enables to avoid dilution of highly acidic solutions prior to their introduction in ICP-MS.

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