Isotope dilution–thermal ionisation mass spectrometric analysis for tin in a fly ash material Original Research Article

Isotope dilution–thermal ionisation mass spectrometry (ID–TIMS) analysis has been applied to the determination of tin in a fly ash sample supplied by the EC Joint Research Centre (Ispra, Italy). The proposed procedure includes the silica gel/phosphoric acid technique for tin thermal ionisation activation and a strict heating protocol for isotope ratio measurements. Instrumental mass discrimination factor has been previously determined measuring a natural tin standard solution. Spike solution has been prepared from 112Sn-enriched metal and quantified by reverse isotope dilution analysis. Two sample aliquots were spiked and tin was extracted with 4.5 M HCl during 25 min ultrasound exposure time. Due to the complex matrix of this fly ash material, a two-step purification stage using ion-exchange chromatography was required prior TIMS analysis. Obtained results for the two sample–spike blends (10.11 ± 0.55 and 10.50 ± 0.64 μmol g−1) are comparable, both value and uncertainty. Also a good reproducibility is observed between measurements. The proposed ID–TIMS procedure, as a primary method and due to the lack of fly ash reference materials certified for tin content, can be used to validate more routine methodologies applied to tin determination in this kind of samples.