Determination of 35 Trace Metal Elements in Coal by High Resolution Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry with Microwave Digestion.

The weak mass number difference of interference elements and target elements can be distinguished by high resolution coupled plasma mass spectrometry which can solve the mass spectrometry of polyatoms and oxides. It has been focused on trace element analysis in coal, but the application is still not mature enough. The challenge of mass spectrometry interference in determination of trace metal elements, especially rare earth elements in coal has not been systematically reported. HNO₃-HF mixed acid was used to digest coal sample, pretreatment conditions such as digestion time, evaporation acid and resolution were optimized. The mass spectrometry interference of V, Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, Ga, Ge, As, Rb, Sr, Y, Nb, Mo, Cd, Sn,Sb,Cs,Ba,La,Ce,Pr,Nd,Sm,Eu,Dy,Gd,Tb, Ho,Er,Lu, Hf,Tl,Pb,Th total 35 trace metal elements at low, midde and high resolution was studied. Ge, Nd, Eu, Gd, Ho, Er, Lu were determined in high resolution pattern, Ga was determined in mid-resolution pattern, the remaining elements were determined in low resolution pattern. A method for measuring 35 trace metal elements in coal with high resolution inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry was established. Under the optimized experimental conditions, the linear correlation coefficient of each element standard curve is greater than 0.999 9, and the detection limit is 0. 001--0. 082 µg/g. Coal standard sample (SARM 20) was selected for method verification, and elements with no certified value in the standard sample were basically matched with the standard experiment, the relative standard deviation of determination results are 0. 27c--6. 3% and the standard recoveries are 85. 8%-- 117 Four representative sample of other bituminous coal from Russian, other bituminous coal from Australian, coking coal from Mongolian, and other bituminous coal from Indonesia were seeded for testing, and the differences of trace metal element contents in coal from different producing areas were analyzed. The centents of Mn,Ba,Sr and rare earth elements are different in four coals, which can support the analysis of coal origin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]