Inductively Coupled Plasma-Tandem Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS/MS) and Its Applications

Abstract

During the last about 10 years, the inductively coupled plasma tandem quadrupole mass spectrometry (ICP-MS/MS) technique with reaction cell is being utilized for the analyses of several trace elements/isotopes at very low concentration levels in a variety of matrices including geological, environmental, biological, medical, nuclear, agriculture, food, material and metallurgical sciences. Both solution nebulization, as well as direct analysis of samples by laser ablation (LA-ICP-MS/MS), are utilized for sample introduction. In fact, ICP-MS/MS technique with collision reaction cells eliminated the need for laborious chemical separations using methods such as ion-exchange or solvent extraction procedures to eliminate/minimize spectral and matrix interference effects as these interferences are removed using online chemical reactions within the instrument itself (chemical resolution). In addition, the technique is hyphenated with chromatographic techniques such as GC and HPLCfor a variety of applications. The detection limits for several elements in the periodic table lie in the pg/ml-fg/ml range, and the technique compares favourably with the expensive, complex, and superior high resolution-ICP-MS (HR-ICP-MS), both in terms of the detection limits as well as the ability to remove the most complex interferences. Thus, the ICP MS/MS made the determinations of elemental as well as isotopic concentrations very simple andeasy even in complex materials with several novel quantification approaches. This article provides an overview of these new developments during the last decade along with several applications in all areas of science and technology.