ANALYSIS OF CERAMIC, GEOLOGICAL AND RELATED REFRACTORY MATERIALS BY SLURRY INJECTION MIXED GAS INDUCTIVELY COUPLED PLASMA ATOMIC EMISSION-SPECTROMETRY

An inductively coupled plasma using mixtures of Ar-Ar, Ar-O2 or Ar-N2 is examined for the spectrometric determination of major elements in slurries of metals, metal oxides, metal carbides and coals. Slurries of 1.00% m/v composition are introduced into the plasma using a Babington-type nebuliser. Gas mixtures tested are 5% O2 in Ar, 10% N2 in Ar and pure Ar. Samples are standard reference materials. Of the mixed gas plasmas studied, the Ar-O2 plasma exhibited the highest analytical sensitivity. Emission profiles, working curves and limits of detection are reported.