Sampling of meteorite particles by laser ablation in liquid technique: Effects of solvents

Abstract

To extract cosmochemical information such as nucleosynthesis processes from particles in meteorites, it is essential to sample the particles from the matrices and perform elemental and isotopic analyses on individual particles. Given this background, the presenters have been conducting elemental and isotopic analyses of individual meteorite particles by combining laser ablation in liquid (LAL) with ICP mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Through previous research, it has been revealed that using water as the solvent in LAL poses issues with the extraction of elements from sample. Therefore, this study investigates the use of low-polarity organic solvents in LAL to reduce the dissolution caused by the release of water-soluble components and reactions with the solvent. In this presentation, we will apply LAL with ultrapure water and various organic solvents with different polarities (ethanol, isopropyl alcohol, and toluene) to two meteorite samples and discuss the changes in element dissolution caused by the solvents and the differences in element dissolution depending on the type of meteorite.