The Effect of Integration Time and Interval on Precision with Three Pneumatic Nebulizers Used for Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrometry

Abstract

The long-term behavior of three popular pneumatic nebulizers was observed and compared, with particular attention given to signal-to-noise ratio. Results indicate that sample changeover time and, consequently, spray-chamber clearing time, should be as short as possible. Precision varied widely for each nebulizer depending on the interval between data values. Integration times as short as 0.1 s can yield relative standard deviations of about 1%. Each of the nebulizers was capable of delivering better than 1% RSD, and two provided RSDs less than 0.4% under certain conditions. The implications of these measurements on instrument and experiment design are discussed.