Using matrix effects as a probe for the study of the charge-transfer mechanism in inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry

A novel method is presented for using matrix effects as a probe for the charge-transfer reaction between analyte atoms and argon ions in inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES). The method is based on the fact that the matrix effect caused by Ca or Ba depends on whether the studied analyte spectral line is from an ion or a neutral atom. Because the charge transfer reaction directly links atomic and high-energy ionic levels of the analyte, ionic spectral lines excited by charge transfer behave more like neutral-atom emission. As a result, quasi-resonant ionic emission lines exhibit a unique matrix effect character and can be easily identified. A commercial simultaneous full UV–Vis wavelength-coverage ICP spectrometer was used to study the responses of a large pool of spectral lines from a total of 22 elements in the presence of Na, Ca and Ba matrices. Candidate elements with charge-transfer character were thereby identified. The results match closely with those reported in the literature. The technique was further used to study charge-transfer reactions exhibited by the fourth-row metals from Sr to Sb. With the exception of Cd, Sr and Mo, all the other studied fourth-row metals showed positive evidence of excitation and ionization by charge-transfer from argon ion. While Sr showed negative results, the charge transfer-character of Cd and Mo could not be confirmed. It was also found that charge transfer can originate from other low-lying atomic analyte levels, in addition to the atomic ground state, and that charge-transfer reactions can occur at an appreciable rate even with a negative energy defect (i.e. negative ΔE) up to −1.6 eV.