Rare earths are known as " industrial MSG", "industrial vitamins" and "the mother of new materials" . They are precious strategic metal resources with irreplaceable excellent magnetic, optical and electrical properties, which play a huge role in improving material performance and increasing product varieties. Due to the great role of rare earths and the small amount used, they have become an important element for improving product structure, increasing scientific and technological content, and promoting technological progress in the industry. They are widely used in metallurgy, military, petrochemical, glass ceramics, agriculture and new materials. Therefore, the demand for high-purity REE materials is becoming more and more stringent. When other REE elements are present, they often affect the function of the final product. Therefore, the detection method of high-purity rare earths is very important.
This application center uses triple quadrupole (ICP-MS/MS) in collision mode to determine elements with less interference, oxygen mass-shift mode to determine Gd, and ammonia mass-shift mode to determine Tb. This analytical method is simple to operate, stable in testing, and highly efficient, providing ideas and references for the accurate testing and analysis of REE impurity elements in high-purity REE in laboratories.
Keywords: ICP-MS/MS, metallurgy, materials, cerium carbonate, collision reaction cell, high matrix high salt configuration, ammonia mass-shift mode, oxygen mass-shift mode
Experimental part
Instrument: EXPEC 7350 ICP-MS/MS, equipped with standard quartz injection system
Table 1 Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer and super microwave digestion instrument
This application center uses triple quadrupole (ICP-MS/MS) in collision mode to determine elements with less interference, oxygen mass-shift mode to determine Gd, and ammonia mass-shift mode to determine Tb. This analytical method is simple to operate, stable in testing, and highly efficient, providing ideas and references for the accurate testing and analysis of REE impurity elements in high-purity REE in laboratories.
Keywords: ICP-MS/MS, metallurgy, materials, cerium carbonate, collision reaction cell, high matrix high salt configuration, ammonia mass-shift mode, oxygen mass-shift mode
Experimental part
Instrument: EXPEC 7350 ICP-MS/MS, equipped with standard quartz injection system
Table 1 Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer and super microwave digestion instrument
Table 2 Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer detection parameters
Reagents and standards
Reagent: High-purity nitric acid; Note: Reagents with higher purity (G3 grade) can be purchased
Pure water: 18.25 MΩ·cm deionized water;
Standard solution: La, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, Lu, Y multi-element standard solution, 100 μg/mL, National Research Institute of Nonferrous Metals.
Sample processing
Accurately weigh 0.1 g (accurate to 0.001 g) of cerium carbonate powder sample into a polytetrafluoroethylene digestion cup, slowly add 4 mL of nitric acid, gently shake to mix, cover and heat at 160°C on a hot plate for about 1 h until it is completely digested. After cooling, use ultrapure water to transfer to a 100 mL PP bottle, dilute to volume, and wait for testing.
Test Results
Conclusion
In this paper, ICP-MS/MS was used to successfully measure 14 REE impurity elements in a high-purity cerium carbonate sample solution. For elements with less interference from the Ce matrix, the interference can be eliminated by using a superior collision cell. For elements with greater interference from the Ce matrix, such as Tb, an ammonia mass transfer mode and Gd, an oxygen mass transfer mode are used to achieve stable test analysis of the element. They use the additional quadrupole of ICP-MS/MS to select the target mass number to enter the reaction cell , accurately control and monitor the reaction process in a complex matrix, and effectively eliminate the polyatomic interference in the Ce matrix, thereby achieving good test analysis of cerium carbonate samples.
appendix
Equipment and consumables solutions
1. EXPEC 7350 standard injection system configuration details
2. Reagents and Standards
