Study on solvent-loading effect on inductively coupled plasma and microwave-induced plasma sources with a microliter nebulizer Original Research Article

To investigate the solvent-loading effect, a microliter nebulizer, called a sonic spray nebulizer (SSN), was used to introduce a sample solution at the microliter per minute level into an inductively coupled plasma (ICP) and into a nitrogen microwave-induced plasma (MIP). We compared the ICP to the MIP, and the SSN to a conventional concentric nebulizer (CCN). Our results confirm that a certain amount of water solvent is useful for analyte excitation in an Ar-ICP, since hydrogen released from the water enhances the energy transfer inside the plasma. However, we found the dominant water–solvent effect in the N2-MIP source was to consume MIP energy, rather than to promote the analyte excitation. Therefore, a means of solvent removal should be used with a N2-MIP. We also discuss other differences between the ICP and the MIP. With the SSN, several organic solvents were successfully introduced into the ICP without degrading the plasma stability.