PROCESS FOR DIRECT DETERMINATION OF RARE EARTH CONCENTRATION IN SOLUTIONS USING SPECTROMETRIC METHODS WITH INDUCTIVELY COUPLED PLASMA WITH ULTRASONIC NEBULIZATION

摘要

The invention relates to a process for the direct determination of the rare earth concentration in liquid solutions by using mass spectrometry with inductively coupled plasma and ultrasonic nebulization, in order to obtain detection and quantization limits as low as possible. According to the invention, the process consists in that, through a capillary tube, the liquid solution reaches the surface of a membrane which oscillates at high frequency to generate aerosols which are carried by an argon stream towards the plasma of a mass spectrometer where, due to the very high temperature, they will be atomized and eventually ionized, the so generated ions being manipulable in electric and magnetic fields as to be selected depending on their m/z ratio, the rare earth concentration being determined depending on a calibration line, using solutions of known concentrations.