Simultaneous detection of Mn, Co, Ni, and Cu using ion chromatography coupled with ICP-MS with a special focus on the determination of 59 Ni in corrosion deposits

A simple method for the simultaneous detection of stable and long-lived Mn, Ni, Co and Cu isotopes has been created by coupling an ion chromatographic system (IC) to an ICP-MS. The analytical procedure was tested with two chromatographic columns: a strong cation exchange and an anionic/cationic mixed bed. It was found that the best separation of the metals is typically obtained when mobile phase contains 0.05 mol/L of tartaric acid. Ammonia solution was used for adjustment of the eluent’s pH and this avoided contamination of the ICP-MS with eluent metals. The developed method was demonstrated in researching the samples of corrosion deposits from a pipeline of a nuclear power plant. The established 59 Ni scaling factor to 60 Co being 3.8 × 10 −2 and it’s correlated to the literary data.