Review of miniaturized and portable optical emission spectrometry based on microplasma for elemental analysis

With concerns increased for environmental pollution and human health, monitoring elemental levels in various real world samples has been frequently performed via laboratory-scale atomic spectrometers or mass spectrometers. However, their large size, high power consumption and complicated operation disable fast and field analysis. Microplasma-based optical emission spectrometry (OES) demonstrates great potential in the elemental field analysis due to its small size, low power consumption, and low cost. In this review, advances of portable/miniaturized OES systems using microplasma as excitation sources are reviewed, with emphasis on four aspects: microplasma excitation sources, sample introduction methods, hyphenated techniques, and applications for samples analysis. Limitations and potential development trends are also discussed for portable microplasma-based OES, which will earn its place in field instrumentation development. (c) 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

This review highlights the potential and application of microplasma-based optical emission spectrometry (OES) in elemental field analysis, focusing on the advances in portable/miniaturized OES systems and four key aspects in sample analysis. Limitations and potential development trends of portable microplasma-based OES are also discussed.