Parallel path nebulizer: Critical parameters for use with microseparation techniques combined with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

E.G. Yanes, N.J. Miller-Ihli

A characterization of four MiraMist CE parallel path nebulizer was done by comparing the impact of adding methanol and the orientation of the nebulizer on the impact of the analytical sensitivity. The addition of methanol impacts the sensitivity in two ways. Firstly, by lowering the viscosity of the sample solution smaller droplets are readily formed in the primary aerosol produced from the nebulizer tip. Secondly, the addition of methanol increases the carbon content of the sample and leads to the well known “carbon enhancement effect” whereby secondary ionization events are facilitated by collisions between analyte and charged carbon species. It was found that for all of the nebulizers tested there is an optimal location for the gas outlet with respect to the sample outlet was an “11 o clock” position. The optimal position was attributed to the cone of the spray being primarily angled into the centre of the spray chamber and thus minimized sample losses directly onto the chamber walls. Testing of different levels of methanol addition (10 or 20 percent) gave rise to different degrees of signal enhancement which indicated the carbon enhancement was more important on ionization processes than the physical transport of the analytes.

Spectrochimica Acta Part B: Atomic Spectroscopy, 60, 4, (2005): 555-561, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sab.2005.03.007

30 Apr 2005