- P-ISSN 1225-0163
- E-ISSN 2288-8985
Acid effects on the ICP-AES signals are studied as the concentrations of nitric acid, hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid, and 1:1 mixture of nitric acid and hydrochloric acid are changed. Almost all analyte signals are depressed. The extent of the depression due to the pressence of the acids became to be pecular when the acid concentration was over 1%. Among the acids used, the suppression due to sulfuric acid is most severe and unexpectable. The ratios of the analyte signal to Ar signal and the Mg II signal to Mg I signal are measured as the concentration of the acids changed. In this study, it is proved that the main reason of the signal reduction is the change in the nebulization efficiency, for example, droplet size distribution, viscosity and surface tension variation, not the alteration of plasma excitation characteristics. There was no relationship found between ionization potential and analyte signal reduction in ICP-MS.