Determination of Trace Sulfur in Pure Copper by Collision/Reaction Cell Triple Quadrupole ICP-MS
Citations
LIU Hong,GUI Shilang. Determination of trace sulfur in pure copper by collision/reaction cell triple quadrupole ICP-MS[J]. Copper Engineering,2025(6):138-142.
Determination of Trace Sulfur in Pure Copper by Collision/Reaction Cell Triple Quadrupole ICP-MS
LIU Hong
GUI Shilang
Jiangxi Copper Technology Institute Co.,Ltd.,Nanchang330096,China
Citations
LIU Hong,GUI Shilang. Determination of trace sulfur in pure copper by collision/reaction cell triple quadrupole ICP-MS[J]. Copper Engineering,2025(6):138-142.
Abstract
Sulfur (S) content is a key index of pure copper. A dynamic reaction cell inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS/MS) was developed for the determination of trace sulfur in pure copper samples. Due to serious mass spectrum interference, it is difficult to determine the content of S element in the sample by the common Q-ICP-MS. In this study, four different detection modes of NexION 5000G ICP-MS were compared, and the detection of S element in oxygen reaction mass-shift mode can significantly reduce the mass spectrum interference and improve the signal-to-noise ratio. Three isotopes of sulfur (32S, 33S and 34S) were determined by ICP-MS/MS, and the correlation coefficients (R2) of the established standard curves were all better than 0.999. However, due to the low abundance and signal-to-noise ratio of 33S compared with 32S and 34S, 32S and 34S isotopes were chosen for quantitative analysis. Finally, the detection limits of the method obtained by ICP-MS/MS for 32S and 34S were 1.2 μg/g and 1.1 μg/g, respectively, which can meet the requirements of S content analysis of 3-5N pure copper. The S content values of two pure copper standard samples were consistent with the recommended value within the error range, which indicated the reliability of the method.
Keywords
pure copper;ICP-MS/MS;sulfur content;oxygen reaction mass-shift mode;standard sample;
目前,准确检测微量-痕量S元素的方法包括元素分析法[ BÉDARD L P,SAVARD D,BARNES S J. Total sulfur concentration in geological reference materials by elemental infrared analyser[J]. Geostandards and Geoanalytical Research,2008,32(2):203-208. RAN K. Simultaneous determination of total carbon,nitrogen,hydrogen and sulfur in twenty‐seven geological reference materials by elemental analyser[J]. Geostandards and Geoanalytical Research,2009,33(2):271-283. 1-2]、离子色谱法[ MICHEL A,VILLEMANT B. Determination of halogens (F,Cl,Br,I),sulfur and water in seventeen geological reference materials[J]. Geostandards Newsletter,2003,27(2):163-171. SHIMIZU K,SUZUKI K,SAITOH M,et al. Simultaneous determinations of fluorine,chlorine,and sulfur in rock samples by ion chromatography combined with pyrohydrolysis[J]. Geochemical Journal,2015,49(1):113-124. 3-4]、电感耦合等离子体光谱法(ICP-OES)[ ALAM R,SHANG J Q,CHENG X R. Optimization of digestion parameters for analysing the total sulphur of mine tailings by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry[J]. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment,2012,184(5):3373-3387. 苏雪,万志勇. 电感耦合等离子体质谱法(ICP-MS)测定颗粒物中的重金属——两种消解方法的对比分析[J]. 江西化工,2024,40(5):18-21. MAHANTA P L,SINGH A K. Determination of total sulfur and sulfate sulfur in geological materials of rocks,soils,and sediments by ICP-OES after sample digestion using alkali flux[J]. Atomic Spectroscopy,2017,38(4):99-105. 5-7]、电感耦合等离子体质谱法(ICP-MS)[ YU L L,KELLY W R,FASSETT J D,et al. Determination of sulfur in fossil fuels by isotope dilution electrothermal vaporization inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry[J]. Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry,2001,16(2):140-145. YANG C H,JIANG S J. Determination of B,Si,P and S in steels by inductively coupled plasma quadrupole mass spectrometry with dynamic reaction cell[J]. Spectrochimica Acta Part B:Atomic Spectroscopy,2004,59(9):1389-1394. ERDMAN M E,LEE C A,YANG W B,et al. Sulfur concentration in geochemical reference materials by solution inductively coupled plasma‐mass spectrometry[J]. Geostandards and Geoanalytical Research,2014,38(1):51-60. AMAIS R S,AMARAL C D B,FIALHO L L,et al. Determination of P,S and Si in biodiesel,diesel and lubricating oil using ICP-MS/MS[J]. Analytical Methods,2014,6(13):4516-4520. AMAIS R S,LONG S E,NÓBREGA J A,et al. Determination of trace sulfur in biodiesel and diesel standard reference materials by isotope dilution sector field inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry[J]. Analytica Chimica Acta,2014,806:91-96. WANG Z C,BECKER H,WOMBACHER F. Mass fractions of S,Cu,Se,Mo,Ag,Cd,In,Te,Ba,Sm,W,Tl and Bi in geological reference materials and selected carbonaceous chondrites determined by isotope dilution ICP‐MS[J]. Geostandards and Geoanalytical Research,2015,39(2):185-208. WADA A,NONOSE N,OHATA M,et al. Determination of ultra-trace sulfur in high-purity metals by isotope dilution inductively coupled plasma sector field mass spectrometry combined with chemical separation procedure[J]. Talanta,2018,189:289-295. LU C W,HUNG H Y,SUNG H C,et al. Total sulfur determination in petroleum fuels for routine quality control by sector field inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry after dilution treatment[J]. Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry,2019,34(3):570-576. QIU X Y,SHANG Q,HE T,et al. Rapid determination of sulfur in sixty geological reference materials by high resolution inductively coupled plasma‐mass spectrometry[J]. Geostandards and Geoanalytical Research,2022,46(4):837-849. 8-16]和辉光放电质谱法(GDMS)等。ICP-OES和离子色谱法的检出限较高,一般在20 μg/g以上,难以满足高纯铜中痕量S元素含量的测定。元素分析仪和GDMS检出限最低,甚至能达到0.1 μg/g,但这两种仪器分析速度较慢,不利于大批量样品的快速分析。
ICP-MS具有分析速度快、检测范围宽等优势,是实验室常见的微痕量元素分析仪器[ LIU T,HE T,SHI Q H,et al. Rapid determination of boron in 61 soil,sediment,and rock reference materials by ICP-MS[J]. Atomic Spectroscopy,2019,40(2):55-62. 李嘉威,宗克清,何琦,等. 模拟月壤样品主微量元素的ICP-MS准确测试[J]. 南京大学学报(自然科学),2021,57(6):944-956. 曾衍强,沈广鑫. ICP质谱法测定阴极铜中9种杂质元素含量[J]. 江西化工,2020,36(5):163-166. 王佳. 电感耦合等离子体发射光谱法同时测定镍-铬基高温合金中铝、钴、铁、锰4种元素含量[J]. 江西化工,2024,40(3):49-53. 17-20]。但通过常见的四极杆ICP-MS分析S元素含量时,由于严重的质谱干扰,检出限过高,难以测定微量及痕量的S元素含量[ YANG C H,JIANG S J. Determination of B,Si,P and S in steels by inductively coupled plasma quadrupole mass spectrometry with dynamic reaction cell[J]. Spectrochimica Acta Part B:Atomic Spectroscopy,2004,59(9):1389-1394. 9]。例如,在铜化学分析国标GB/T 5121.28—2021《铜及铜合金化学分析方法 第28部分:铬、铁、锰、钴、镍、锌、砷、硒、银、镉、锡、锑、碲、铅和铋含量的测定 电感耦合等离子体质谱法》方法中,就没有采用ICP-MS来测定S元素含量。但通过电热蒸发进样可以减少与目标元素同时进入ICP的水分,在一定程度上能够降低对S的质谱干扰,完成S元素含量的准确分析[ YU L L,KELLY W R,FASSETT J D,et al. Determination of sulfur in fossil fuels by isotope dilution electrothermal vaporization inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry[J]. Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry,2001,16(2):140-145. 8]。随着ICP-MS仪器的进步,商业化的三重四极杆ICP-MS(即ICP-MS/MS)和扇形磁场ICP-MS(即SF-ICP-MS)已经屡见不鲜,并在国内外众多实验室得到应用。SF-ICP-MS采用扇形磁场质量分析器,可以达到很高的质量分辨率(m/Δm),在中-高分辨率模式下能有效避免O原子对S原子的质谱干扰,准确测定样品中痕量的S元素含量[ ERDMAN M E,LEE C A,YANG W B,et al. Sulfur concentration in geochemical reference materials by solution inductively coupled plasma‐mass spectrometry[J]. Geostandards and Geoanalytical Research,2014,38(1):51-60. 10, AMAIS R S,LONG S E,NÓBREGA J A,et al. Determination of trace sulfur in biodiesel and diesel standard reference materials by isotope dilution sector field inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry[J]. Analytica Chimica Acta,2014,806:91-96. 12, WADA A,NONOSE N,OHATA M,et al. Determination of ultra-trace sulfur in high-purity metals by isotope dilution inductively coupled plasma sector field mass spectrometry combined with chemical separation procedure[J]. Talanta,2018,189:289-295. LU C W,HUNG H Y,SUNG H C,et al. Total sulfur determination in petroleum fuels for routine quality control by sector field inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry after dilution treatment[J]. Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry,2019,34(3):570-576. QIU X Y,SHANG Q,HE T,et al. Rapid determination of sulfur in sixty geological reference materials by high resolution inductively coupled plasma‐mass spectrometry[J]. Geostandards and Geoanalytical Research,2022,46(4):837-849. 14-16]。不同于SF-ICP-MS,ICP-MS/MS在两套四极杆质量分析器中间增加了一个四极杆或八极杆碰撞反应池,通过碰撞反应池技术可以有效降低质谱干扰[ RAN K. Simultaneous determination of total carbon,nitrogen,hydrogen and sulfur in twenty‐seven geological reference materials by elemental analyser[J]. Geostandards and Geoanalytical Research,2009,33(2):271-283. 2, YANG C H,JIANG S J. Determination of B,Si,P and S in steels by inductively coupled plasma quadrupole mass spectrometry with dynamic reaction cell[J]. Spectrochimica Acta Part B:Atomic Spectroscopy,2004,59(9):1389-1394. 9, AMAIS R S,AMARAL C D B,FIALHO L L,et al. Determination of P,S and Si in biodiesel,diesel and lubricating oil using ICP-MS/MS[J]. Analytical Methods,2014,6(13):4516-4520. 11]。早在2004年,有研究已经证明在ICP-MS/MS中引入氧气作为反应气可以有效降低S元素面临的质谱干扰[ YANG C H,JIANG S J. Determination of B,Si,P and S in steels by inductively coupled plasma quadrupole mass spectrometry with dynamic reaction cell[J]. Spectrochimica Acta Part B:Atomic Spectroscopy,2004,59(9):1389-1394. 9]。例如,通过ICP-MS/MS的氧气反应-质量转移模式准确测定了原油中的S含量[ AMAIS R S,AMARAL C D B,FIALHO L L,et al. Determination of P,S and Si in biodiesel,diesel and lubricating oil using ICP-MS/MS[J]. Analytical Methods,2014,6(13):4516-4520. 11]。
通过ICP-MS测定S元素含量时,存在明显的质谱干扰[ YANG C H,JIANG S J. Determination of B,Si,P and S in steels by inductively coupled plasma quadrupole mass spectrometry with dynamic reaction cell[J]. Spectrochimica Acta Part B:Atomic Spectroscopy,2004,59(9):1389-1394. 9, QIU X Y,SHANG Q,HE T,et al. Rapid determination of sulfur in sixty geological reference materials by high resolution inductively coupled plasma‐mass spectrometry[J]. Geostandards and Geoanalytical Research,2022,46(4):837-849. 16]。本研究采用ICP-MS/MS在四种模式下测试了100 μg/L S元素溶液,获得的信噪比结果如图1所示。标准模式相当于常规的四极杆ICP-MS,其信噪比接近于1(见图1)。在碰撞反应池中引入氦气后,S元素的信噪比几乎不变(图1)。这些结果说明了在四极杆ICP-MS中S元素的质谱干扰的确十分严重,只带有碰撞池的四极杆ICP-MS难以测试低含量的S元素。
图1 ICP-MS/MS不同模式下测试3种S同位素的信噪比
Fig. 1 Signal-to-noise ratio of three S isotopes measured by ICP-MS/MS in different modes
NexION 5000G ICP-MS/MS配备有碰撞反应池,可以引入O2,NH3,H2等作为反应气体。如图1,在碰撞反应池中引入少量O2后,在质量转移(MS-Shift)模式下测试与S元素对应的SO+,获得的信噪比显著提高。这是因为大量的S离子和所引入碰撞反应池的O2反应形成了SO+,从而避开了原先O2+的质谱干扰[ YANG C H,JIANG S J. Determination of B,Si,P and S in steels by inductively coupled plasma quadrupole mass spectrometry with dynamic reaction cell[J]. Spectrochimica Acta Part B:Atomic Spectroscopy,2004,59(9):1389-1394. 9]。另外,氧气反应-质量转移模式灵敏度显著高于氧气反应-原位模式的表现,说明在碰撞反应池中,引入少量O2时,S离子倾向于与O离子结合形成SO+,而干扰S离子的未知离子(最可能是O2+)很难与O离子结合。因此,推荐ICP-MS/MS在氧气反应-质量转移模式下测定S含量。应该注意到,在氧气反应-质量转移模式下,33S获得的信噪比明显低于32S和34S获得的信噪比。
BÉDARDL P,SAVARDD,BARNESS J. Total sulfur concentration in geological reference materials by elemental infrared analyser[J]. Geostandards and Geoanalytical Research,2008,32(2):203-208.
[2]
RANK. Simultaneous determination of total carbon,nitrogen,hydrogen and sulfur in twenty‐seven geological reference materials by elemental analyser[J]. Geostandards and Geoanalytical Research,2009,33(2):271-283.
[3]
MICHELA,VILLEMANTB. Determination of halogens (F,Cl,Br,I),sulfur and water in seventeen geological reference materials[J]. Geostandards Newsletter,2003,27(2):163-171.
[4]
SHIMIZUK,SUZUKIK,SAITOHM,et al. Simultaneous determinations of fluorine,chlorine,and sulfur in rock samples by ion chromatography combined with pyrohydrolysis[J]. Geochemical Journal,2015,49(1):113-124.
[5]
ALAMR,SHANGJ Q,CHENGX R. Optimization of digestion parameters for analysing the total sulphur of mine tailings by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry[J]. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment,2012,184(5):3373-3387.
MAHANTAP L,SINGHA K. Determination of total sulfur and sulfate sulfur in geological materials of rocks,soils,and sediments by ICP-OES after sample digestion using alkali flux[J]. Atomic Spectroscopy,2017,38(4):99-105.
[8]
YUL L,KELLYW R,FASSETTJ D,et al. Determination of sulfur in fossil fuels by isotope dilution electrothermal vaporization inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry[J]. Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry,2001,16(2):140-145.
[9]
YANGC H,JIANGS J. Determination of B,Si,P and S in steels by inductively coupled plasma quadrupole mass spectrometry with dynamic reaction cell[J]. Spectrochimica Acta Part B:Atomic Spectroscopy,2004,59(9):1389-1394.
[10]
ERDMANM E,LEEC A,YANGW B,et al. Sulfur concentration in geochemical reference materials by solution inductively coupled plasma‐mass spectrometry[J]. Geostandards and Geoanalytical Research,2014,38(1):51-60.
[11]
AMAISR S,AMARALC D B,FIALHOL L,et al. Determination of P,S and Si in biodiesel,diesel and lubricating oil using ICP-MS/MS[J]. Analytical Methods,2014,6(13):4516-4520.
[12]
AMAISR S,LONGS E,NÓBREGAJ A,et al. Determination of trace sulfur in biodiesel and diesel standard reference materials by isotope dilution sector field inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry[J]. Analytica Chimica Acta,2014,806:91-96.
[13]
WANGZ C,BECKERH,WOMBACHERF. Mass fractions of S,Cu,Se,Mo,Ag,Cd,In,Te,Ba,Sm,W,Tl and Bi in geological reference materials and selected carbonaceous chondrites determined by isotope dilution ICP‐MS[J]. Geostandards and Geoanalytical Research,2015,39(2):185-208.
[14]
WADAA,NONOSEN,OHATAM,et al. Determination of ultra-trace sulfur in high-purity metals by isotope dilution inductively coupled plasma sector field mass spectrometry combined with chemical separation procedure[J]. Talanta,2018,189:289-295.
[15]
LUC W,HUNGH Y,SUNGH C,et al. Total sulfur determination in petroleum fuels for routine quality control by sector field inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry after dilution treatment[J]. Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry,2019,34(3):570-576.
[16]
QIUX Y,SHANGQ,HET,et al. Rapid determination of sulfur in sixty geological reference materials by high resolution inductively coupled plasma‐mass spectrometry[J]. Geostandards and Geoanalytical Research,2022,46(4):837-849.
[17]
LIUT,HET,SHIQ H,et al. Rapid determination of boron in 61 soil,sediment,and rock reference materials by ICP-MS[J]. Atomic Spectroscopy,2019,40(2):55-62.