System and process for dissolution of solids
A system and process are disclosed for dissolution of solids and “difficult-to-dissolve” solids. A solid sample may be ablated in an ablation device to generate nanoscale particles. Nanoparticles may then swept into a coupled plasma device operating at atmospheric pressure where the solid nanoparticles are atomized. The plasma exhaust may be delivered directly into an aqueous fluid to form a solution containing the atomized and dissolved solids. The composition of the resulting solution reflects the composition of the original solid sample.
1. A pre-analytical sample preparation process using an inductively coupled plasma (ICP) for preparing hard-to-dissolve solids for analysis the process comprising the steps of:
ablating a portion of the solid in an ablation device into particles into a carrier gas;
passing the carrier gas and ablated particles through a plasma to atomize the ablated particles at a temperature selected at or above about 4000 Kelvin; and
capturing the atomized particles and the carrier gas in an aqueous solution to form a sample.
2. The process of claim 1 , wherein the carrier gas is selected from the group consisting of: argon (Ar), helium (He), nitrogen (N 2 ), oxygen (O 2 ), air, and combinations thereof.
3. The process of claim 1 , wherein the sample contains less than about 2% by weight of a concentrated dissolution agent therein.
4. The process of claim 1 , wherein capturing the atomized particles and the carrier gas in an aqueous solution to form a sample is performed by delivering the atomized particles and the carrier gas into the aqueous solution through a gas bubbler or frit.
5. A process for performing inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS) analysis of solids comprising the steps of:
pretreating the solid by ablating at least a portion of the solid in an ablation device into particles into a carrier gas;
passing the carrier gas and ablated particles through a plasma to atomize the ablated particles at a temperature selected at or above about 4000 Kelvin to form plasma gas atoms;
capturing the atomized particles and the carrier gas in an aqueous solution to form a sample; and
analyzing the sample using an ICP-MS device to determine and quantify components in the original solid.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the solid is not treated with an acid, alkali or other chemicals.
7. The method of claim 5 , wherein the solid contains glass.
8. The method of claim 5 , wherein the solid contains boron carbide.
9. The method of claim 5 , wherein the solid is a ceramic.
10. The method of claim 5 , wherein the solid contains a corrosion-resistant metal containing Zr, or Nb, or Hf, or Ta.
11. A process for performing inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS) analysis of solids, comprising the steps of:
pretreating the solid by ablating at least a portion of the solid in an ablation device into a carrier gas;
passing the carrier gas and ablated particles through the ICP plasma to atomize the ablated particles to form plasma gas atoms;
capturing the exhausted atomized particles and the carrier gas from the ICP in water to form a sampling solution; and
analyzing the sampling solution using an ICP-MS device to determine and quantify components in the original solid.
12. The process of claim 11 , wherein the step of capturing the exhausted atomized particles and the carrier gas from the ICP is performed by bubbling through a frit.
13. The process of claim 12 , wherein the exhaust is captured using a vacuum.
14. The process of claim 11 , wherein the solid is not treated with an acid, alkali or other chemicals.