Per: Lívia Gonçalves Leida Soares (Centro de tecnologia mineral), Manuel Castro Carneiro (CENTRO DE TECNOLOGIA MINERAL), Mariana Mello Santos Cerveira Pereira (CENTRO DE TECNOLOGIA MINERAL), Brenda da Silva Pissurno (CENTRO DE TECNOLOGIA MINERAL), Arnaldo Alcover Neto (CENTRO DE TECNOLOGIA MINERAL)
Abstract:
Rare earth elements (REEs) and lithium are promising for application in green technologies, aiming at a low-carbon economy. Reliable and fast analytical methods are needed to determine these elements in samples with low concentrations and/or complex matrices. ICP-MS has several advantages, but samples with high total dissolved solids content (TDS) can cause interference, leading to signal loss and instability. The use of ICP-MS with the aerosol dilution (AD) tool is promising for this application, reducing the amount of sample reaching the plasma. High concentrations of elements such as K, Na, Ca and Mg can also cause preferential loss of light ions, due to space charge effects. The application of cold plasma is a favorable condition for ICP-MS analysis of elements in the low mass region, such as Li, as it generates improvements in sensitivity and/or changes in the signal-to-noise ratio. A certified reference material (CRM) of limestone (CCH-1) was analyzed using AD, showing good recoveries (89.8% to 111.0%) for most ETRs. Two lithium ore CRMs (NCS DC 86303 and SRM 181) showed recoveries of 97.9% and 96.8%, respectively, under cool plasma and AD conditions.