Five years of innovations in development of glow discharges generated in contact with liquids for spectrochemical elemental analysis by optical emission spectrometry

The newest achievements in the field of glow microdischarges generated in contact with a flowing liquid cathode (FLC) and a flowing liquid anode (FLA), used as the excitation sources for optical emission spectrometry (OES), were summarized herein. The design of recently reported discharge systems was compared and comprehensively discussed. A lot of effort was devoted to evaluate the effect of selected operating parameters, i.e., discharge voltage and current, sample flow rate, sample pH, jet-supporting gas flow rate, and discharge gap, on the microplasma stability and the intensity of measurable analytical signals. Furthermore, the influence of chemical modifiers, i.e., organic acids, alcohols, and surfactants, aimed at improving the sensitivity and reducing matrix effects, was referred to as well. Finally, the analytical performance and the application of these promising excitation sources for the elemental analysis of different-matrix samples were presented. (c) 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

This study summarized the latest achievements in the field of glow microdischarges generated in contact with a flowing liquid cathode and anode, compared and discussed the design of discharge systems, evaluated the effect of operating parameters on microplasma stability and signal intensity, and also discussed the influence of chemical modifiers on sensitivity and matrix effects in elemental analysis.