Direct Determination of Rare Earth Elements at the Subpicogram per Gram Level in Antarctic Ice by ICP-SFMS Using a Desolvation System

• Published in: Analytical Chemistry
• Main Authors: Gabrielli, Paolo, Barbante, Carlo, Turetta, Clara, Marteel, Alexandrine, Boutron, Claude, Cozzi, Giulio, Cairns, Warren, Ferrari, Christophe, Paolo Cescon, And
• Other Authors: Environmental Sciences Department, University of Ca’ Foscari Venice, Italy, Institute for the Dynamics of Environmental Processes-CNR, Laboratoire de glaciologie et géophysique de l'environnement (LGGE), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (OSUG), Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB Université de Savoie Université de Chambéry )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB Université de Savoie Université de Chambéry )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (OSUG), Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB Université de Savoie Université de Chambéry )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Polytech' Grenoble, Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF), European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica (EPICA)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2006
• Subjects: [SDU.STU.GL]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Glaciology; Antarctic; Dy; Antarc*
• Online Access: https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00375470; https://doi.org/10.1021/ac0518957

International audience A method, based on inductively coupled plasma sector field mass spectrometry coupled with a microflow nebulizer and a desolvation system, has been developed for the direct determination of rare earth elements (REE) (La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, Lu) down to the subpicogram per gram level (1 pg/g = 10-12 g g-1) in 1 mL of molten Antarctic ice. Contamination problems were carefully taken into account by adopting ultraclean procedures during the sample pretreatment phases. The use of a desolvation system for sample introduction during the analysis greatly reduced spectral interferences from oxide formation; the residual interfering contributions were calculated and subtracted whenever necessary. A matched calibration curve method was used for the quantification of the analytes. Instrumental detection limits ranged from 0.001 pg/g for Ho, Tm, and Lu to 0.03 pg/g for Gd. The precision, in terms of relative standard deviation on 10 replicates, ranged from 2% for La, Ce, Pr, and Lu, up to 10% for Er, Tm, and Yb. This methodology allowed the direct determination of REE in a 1-mL sample of ancient Antarctic ice with concentration ranges between 0.006 and 0.4 pg/g for Tm and 0.9−60 pg/g for Ce.