Trace amounts of impurities in electrolytic manganese metal by sector field inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

An analytical method, using sector field inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (SF-ICP-MS) for rapid simultaneous determination of Be, Na, Mg, Si, Ca, Ti, V, Cr, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Sn, Sb, Pb and Bi in electrolytic manganese metal, was described. At the beginning, the samples were decomposed by HNO3 and H2SO4, and then analyzed by SF-ICP-MS. Most of the spectral interferences could be avoided by measuring in different mass resolution modes. The matrix effects due to the excess of sulfuric acid and Mn were evaluated. Correction of matrix effects was conducted by using the internal standard elements. The optimum condition for the determination was investigated and discussed. The detection limit is in the range of 0.001-0.169 mu g/L. The current method is applied to the determination of trace impurities in electrolytic manganese metal. And experiments show that good results can be obtained much faster, more accurately and conveniently by current method.