Experimental and Theoretical Investigations of Singly Charged Metal-Argide Ions ArM+ Manifestation in Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry

Singly charged metal-argide ions ArM⁺ (M—a metal atom) create significant spectral interferences in elemental and isotopic analysis using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. In this study, the behavior of ArM⁺ ions for vanadium, manganese, cobalt, and copper was experimentally investigated as a function of high-frequency plasma power and transporting argon flow rate. The behavior of ArV⁺ and ArCo⁺ ions was theoretically studied using thermodynamic simulation with changes in plasma temperature, transporting argon flow, concentration of the element M, acid type, and concentration of sodium as an easily ionizable element in the studied solution. General trends in the ratios of experimental intensities and theoretical particle concentrations ArM⁺/M⁺ were observed with changes in operational parameters. The form of the experimental and theoretical dependencies was consistent: an increase in the ArM⁺/M⁺ ratio with a decrease in plasma temperature.