Rapid Elemental Analysis of Aerosols Using Atmospheric Glow Discharge Optical Emission Spectroscopy

A new, low-cost approach based on the application of atmospheric radio frequency glow discharge (rf-GD) optical emission spectroscopy (OES) has been developed for near real-time measurement of multielemental concentration in airborne particulate phase. This method involves deposition of aerosol part...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Analytical chemistry (Washington) 2017-06, Vol.89 (12), p.6551-6558
Main Authors: Zheng, Lina, Kulkarni, Pramod
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Ablation
Aerosols
Aerosols - analysis
Airborne sensing
Atmosphere - chemistry
Atomizing
Chemistry
Discharge
Electrodes
Emission analysis
Emission measurements
Emission spectroscopy
Emissions
Excitation spectra
Manganese
Measurement
Optical emission spectroscopy
Particle physics
Particulate emissions
Particulate matter
Particulates
Radio frequency
Reproducibility
Spatial analysis
Spectroscopic analysis
Spectroscopy
Spectrum analysis
Spectrum Analysis - methods
Sucrose
Sugar
Temperature
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Summary:A new, low-cost approach based on the application of atmospheric radio frequency glow discharge (rf-GD) optical emission spectroscopy (OES) has been developed for near real-time measurement of multielemental concentration in airborne particulate phase. This method involves deposition of aerosol particles on the tip of a cathode in a coaxial microelectrode system, followed by ablation, atomization, and excitation of the particulate matter using the rf-GD. The resulting atomic emissions are recorded using a spectrometer for elemental identification and quantification. The glow discharge plasma in our system was characterized by measuring spatially resolved gas temperatures (378–1438 K) and electron densities (2–5 × 1014 cm–3). Spatial analysis of the spectral features showed that the excitation of the analyte occurred in the region near the collection electrode. The temporal analysis of spectral features in the rf-GD showed that the collected particles were continuously ablated; the time for complete ablation of 193 ng of sucrose particles was found to be approximately 2 s. The system was calibrated using 100 nm particles containing C, Cd, Mn, and Na, respectively. The method provides limits of detection in the range of 0.055–1.0 ng, and a measurement reproducibility of 5–28%. This study demonstrates that the rf-GD can be an excellent excitation source for the development of low-cost hand-held sensors for elemental measurement of aerosols.
ISSN:0003-2700
1520-6882
DOI:10.1021/acs.analchem.7b00691