Abstract
A novel nebulizer called a sonic spray nebulizer (SSN) was developed to introduce microliter sample solution for ICP-AES with a high nebulization efficiency. At a sample uptake rate of 50 µl min-1, the detection limit of ICP-AES with the SSN is comparable to that with a conventional concentric nebulizer (CCN) at a typical sample uptake rate of 850 µl min-1. The absolute sensitivity of the SSN was improved by an average factor of 13, compared to that of the CCN. The SSN system is capable of introducing a sample solution at a rate as low as 1 µl min-1 with a relative standard deviation (RSD) of about 2%; therefore, the SSN nebulizer should be very useful for introducing biological or other samples in very limit-ed volumes.
