Environmental analysis, medical and pharmaceutical analysis, water quality control, and the food and beverage sector all benefit from reliable and accurate determinations of elemental composition, chemical binding, and oxidation states.

To protect the foundation of our own existence, it is becoming increasingly vital to monitor the environment for the presence of dangerous substances and to demand improved quality control and process control in the manufacturing of consumer goods such as pharmaceuticals and foodstuffs. Ion chromatography (IC) to inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP/MS) online hyphenation is a great approach for such checks. Some of the most challenging analytical tasks can be handled with this powerful instrumental tool.

With excellent detection limits, the ICP/MS technique can determine the entire amount of an element present in a sample (element selectivity). IC can separate ionic analytes according to their chemical structure, which means it can handle species selectivity (Herrmann, T.; 2006). As a result, hyphenating IC with ICP/MS online combines IC’s molecular sensitivity with ICP/elemental MS’s sensitivity and selectivity (Knöll, J.; 2013). Toxicity is determined by elemental composition as well as bioavailability, which is influenced by chemical binding and oxidation states inside the molecule. These parameters may be determined with confidence and accuracy using IC-ICP/MS.

The online hyphenation of a high-performance IC to an ICP/MS improves sensitivity while reducing potential matrix interferences. As a result, IC-ICP/MS is a valuable technique for investigating speciation in complex matrices. This page discusses some of the most common IC-ICP/MS applications.

Instrumentation for ion chromatography

For hyphenated systems, intelligent instruments that enable automated sample preparation, online sample introduction, and logical judgments will become increasingly critical. With the 940 Professional IC Vario system, Metrohm has set a new standard in IC, providing exceptional flexibility, total reliability, and ease of use.

  • Agilent 7900 ICP-MS can generate all solutions, including standards, automatically. The system starts working automatically as soon as the sample is injected. It’s also self-monitoring, which means it’s constantly checking all method and system parameters. In the event that any system component requires maintenance, the system will provide a warning.
  • This essentially eliminates human errors, ensuring improved reliability of both the system and the analytical results it delivers. Furthermore, every result, including sample preparation, can be traced back to each step of the study. As a result, the IC system is appropriate for both difficult scientific investigations and regular analysis, as well as being a strong and easy-to-use tool.

Remote control functionality is available on all sophisticated ICP/MS instruments, allowing data acquisition to be coupled with IC instrumentation. There are no limitations on the kind of instruments that can be used in a mix. Additional Metrohm detectors, such as UV/VIS, amperometry, or conductivity detectors, can be simply integrated with the IC and their signals supplied to the ICP/MS software via digital-to-analog converters.