Analysis of Impurities in Silver by Spark Ablation Sampling, Combined with ICP-OES
A method for the determination of elemental impurities in solid silver samples was developed using a spark ablation accessory in combination with ICP-OES. Detection limits at the sub-ppm level were achieved along with good accuracy and precision.
Abstract
A method for the determination of elemental impurities in solid silver samples was developed using a spark ablation accessory in combination with ICP-OES. Detection limits at the sub-ppm level were achieved along with good accuracy and precision.
Refinery plants receiving silver from suppliers must analyze the supplied raw material for its elemental content. Silver may be analyzed after dissolution in nitric acid or aqua regia, but significant solubility issues exist for various elements.
The Separate Sampling and Excitation Accessory (SSEA) is a spark ablation accessory which, coupled with ICP-OES, offers an instrumental solution to these issues. The Kolyma State Refinery, in the Magadan region of Russia recently added SSEA-ICP-OES to their capabilities for the analysis of silver. This note describes the basis of their methodology.
Experimental Conditions
A Thermo Scientific iCAP 6500 Duo spectrometer was used. This offers enhanced sensitivity in axial view mode and has the ability to couple with, and fully support, the SSEA spark accessory. Table 1 gives the parameters used in the method.
Table 1: Instrumental parameters
Silver certified reference materials (Russian State reference samples of silver) were used for calibration. The silver wavelengths 232.468 nm and 233.137 nm were used as internal standard lines to maximize the precision of the method and to minimize differential transport efficiency effects.
Results
Reference samples were analyzed against the calibration with multiple replicates to demonstrate the accuracy and precision of the method. Table 2 gives a summary of the results of the analysis of two materials along with detection limits.
Table 2: Found and certified values and detection limits (all units in % w/w)
Conclusions
Thermo Scientific iCAP 6500 Duo in combination with the SSEA enables high sensitivity, multi-element analysis of impurities in silver samples at ppm and sub-ppm levels as well as the ability to determine silver itself. The SSEA accessory provides a solid phase sampling technique that side-steps the problems that can be encountered with acid digestion approaches.
To download the full application note, please visit www.thermo.com/icap and browse to the ICP literature library.
Thermo Fisher Scientific, Scientific Instruments Division
SOLAAR House • 19 Mercers Row
Cambridge CB5 8BZ • United Kingdom
Tel. +44 (0) 1223-347400, Fax +44 (0) 1223-347401
Important Talks You May Have Missed at AAFS 2025
March 20th 2025The American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS) Annual Scientific Meeting took place from February 17 to 22, 2025, in Baltimore, Maryland. In this video interview, we speak with Tom Metz of the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Heidi Eldridge of George Washington University, and Claire Glynn of the University of New Haven, all of whom attended AAFS this year and delivered important talks that provide insight into the state of the forensic science industry. Metz, Eldridge, and Glynn provide summaries of the talks they delivered at AAFS.
Improving Biofuel Production Through Feedstock Screening With ICP-OES
March 10th 2025Inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) is the preferred technique for inorganic contaminant analysis of biodiesel, and PerkinElmer offers two technologies to support it. The Avio 220 Max and Avio 550 Max, combined with PerkinElmer's expertise, can help labs achieve accurate feedstock analysis demanded by today's market.
