The coupling of LC to ICP-MS in element speciation: I. General aspects

This article covers the use of liquid chromatography (LC) combined with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) in the field of speciation. The potential and advantages of the separation methods in element speciation are shown. The focus is also on changes in species information during separation when using different separation mechanisms. Problems found during element detection, due to the analytes or mobile phase composition, are outlined, as well as the advantages of ICP-MS as an LC detector. The hyphenation of LC and ICP-MS itself causes problems, especially in element speciation. These difficulties are described and solutions and recent developments for overcoming the problems or improving hyphenation efficiency are given. (C)2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.