Recent advances in sample preparation methods for elemental and isotopic analysis of geological samples

Knowledge of the elemental compositions and isotopic ratios of geological samples is a prerequisite for geochemical research. For whole-rock elemental composition and isotopic analyses, sample digestion is a crucial step and often the limiting factor for achieving reproducible and accurate analytica...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Spectrochimica acta. Part B: Atomic spectroscopy 2019-10, Vol.160, p.105690, Article 105690
Main Authors: Zhang, Wen, Hu, Zhaochu
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Ablation
Acid digestion
Ammonium
Ammonium bifluoride
Ammonium compounds
Ammonium fluoride
Chemical composition
Composition
Digestion
Fluorides
Geochemistry
Geological sample
Geological samples
Geology
Hot spots (geology)
Hydrogen fluoride
ICP-MS
Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry
Isotopes
LA-ICP-MS
Laser ablation
Lasers
Limiting factors
Mass spectrometry
Mass spectroscopy
Pressure
Ratios
Rocks
Sample digestion
Sample preparation
Sampling methods
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Summary:Knowledge of the elemental compositions and isotopic ratios of geological samples is a prerequisite for geochemical research. For whole-rock elemental composition and isotopic analyses, sample digestion is a crucial step and often the limiting factor for achieving reproducible and accurate analytical results. This review focuses on the recent advances in sample digestion methods, especially on open-vessel acid digestion, high-pressure acid digestion, microwave digestion, alkali fusion, high-pressure asher, and sample preparation methods for laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) analysis. This review addresses concerns and discusses the attributes and limitations of these sample digestion methods along with examples of their applications in geochemical analysis. Particular attention is placed on sample digestion with ammonium fluoride (NH4F) and ammonium bifluoride (ammonium hydrogen fluoride, NH4HF2), which are recent new research hotspots. Whole-rock analysis by LA-ICP-MS is becoming a promising technique because of rapid developments in sample preparation. It is evident that only the appropriate sample digestion methods can provide us with high-quality analytical results and guarantee the success of further investigations. [Display omitted] •An overview of the recent advances in sample digestion methods for geological samples is presented.•Recently developed sample preparation methods for bulk silicate rock analysis by LA-ICP-MS are discussed.•An in-depth review of the application of the new digestion reagents NH4F and NH4HF2 in different fields is provided.
ISSN:0584-8547
1873-3565
DOI:10.1016/j.sab.2019.105690