| Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1242190 | Talanta | 2016 | 6 Pages |
•Si, P and S in silver nanoparticles for industrial use are determined by ETV-ICP-AES.•Direct solid sampling is applied to ETV-ICP-AES for the analysis of nanoparticles.•Exchangeable sample cuvettes are used for weighing dishes, carriers, and vaporiser.•Sample amount in each batch is estimated by observing matrix emission, not weighing.•Weighing procedure for the estimation of the sample amount taken is not needed.
A method based on a tungsten boat furnace vaporiser, tungsten sample cuvettes, and an inductively coupled plasma (ICP) optical emission spectrometer has been developed for the direct determination of silicon, phosphorus, and sulphur in silver nanoparticles. The important point in the proposed method is that the entire sample in each batch is vaporised, which enables simultaneous measurement of the emission of not only the analyte but also the silver matrix. Furthermore, since the silver nanoparticles are sufficiently pure, the contribution of impurities to the sample amounts will be negligible. Therefore, this estimation is suitable for measuring the sample amount in each aliquot instead of the conventional weighing procedure using a microbalance; therefore, no tedious weighing procedures for estimating the sample amount introduced into the ETV device are needed. An additional advantage is that pretreatment and/or predigestion are unnecessary. The sample throughput is approximately 35 batches per hour. The detection limits of silicon, phosphorus, and sulphur in the silver nanoparticles (dry powder) are 15, 4.2, and 62 µg g−1, respectively. Analytical results for various silver nanoparticles as both dry particles and in suspended solutions are described, and these values are compared to those obtained by conventional weighing with a microbalance. This methodology is useful for rapid screening and accurate analysis of silver nanoparticles, especially for industrial applications.
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