Can ultrafast single-particle analysis using ICP-MS affect the detection limit? Case study: Silver nanoparticles

Oto Mestek; Martin Loula; Antonín Kaňa; Magda Vosmanská

doi:10.1016/j.talanta.2019.120665

Can ultrafast single-particle analysis using ICP-MS affect the detection limit? Case study: Silver nanoparticles

Talanta. 2020 Apr 1:210:120665. doi: 10.1016/j.talanta.2019.120665. Epub 2019 Dec 24.

Authors

Oto Mestek¹, Martin Loula², Antonín Kaňa¹, Magda Vosmanská¹

Affiliations

¹ University of Chemistry and Technology Prague, Technická 5, 166 28, Prague 6, Czech Republic.
² University of Chemistry and Technology Prague, Technická 5, 166 28, Prague 6, Czech Republic. Electronic address: loulam@vscht.cz.

PMID: 31987196
DOI: 10.1016/j.talanta.2019.120665

Abstract

Ultrafast measurement using dwell times below 100 μs down to 10 μs is a relatively new feature of single particle analysis using ICP-MS. In this study, we tested the effect of shorter dwell times on the particle size detection limit (D_d.l.). Decreasing dwell times below 100 μs did not lead to a statistically significant decrease in D_d.l. The particle size detection limit (quadrupole ICP-MS) of silver nanoparticles (NP) was estimated to be approx. 10-11 nm. Ag NPs close to D_d.l. were analysed. The 14-nm NPs showed low detection yield; only 5% of number of NPs estimated from transport efficiency was detected. The 20-nm NPs showed 44% detection yield; only in the case of 30-nm NPs did the number of detected NPs correspond to transport efficiency. It is obvious that near D_d.l. estimates of NP concentrations should be made with great caution.

Keywords: Detection limit; ICP-MS; Nanoparticles; Single particle analysis.