Development of a novel kilowatt microwave plasma torch source for atomic emission spectrometry

Traditional low power-microwave plasma torch(MPT) excitation source of atomic emission spectrometry was shown to be good for the introduction of dry aerosols, but poor for wet sample aerosols. In this work, some significant modifications have been made to traditional MPT. A new MPT excitation source working at kilowatt microwave power has been developed. The kilowatt MPT source can sustain stable plasmas with double or even more filaments, presenting a “bell” form, where the region around the converging point is the optimum region for analysis. The tolerance to aqueous aerosol of the torch is enhanced significantly compared to the traditional one. Therefore, the desolvation system that the low power MPT source has to be relied on can be gotten rid of. A set of favorable detection results have been obtained with direct wet sample aerosol introduction. The kilowatt MPT source is expected to become a practical excitation source for atomic emission spectrometry that will be widely used.