Effect of different spray chambers on the determination of organotin compounds by high-performance liquid chromatography–inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

Abstract

One of the potential problems to overcome when coupling liquid chromatography with atomic spectrometry is the low sample transport efficiency. Often this is a consequence of the interface design, and in particular the nebulizer and spray chamber configuration. The present study reports on a comparison of several spray chambers (single-pass, double-pass and cyclone types) with respect to both design and performance characteristics. In order to evaluate performance for speciation studies, different configurations have been evaluated utilizing HPLC–ICP-MS. Various organotin compounds (monobutyltin, dibutyltin, tributyltin and triphenyltin chlorides) were coinjected and the effects on resolution, sensitivity and SNR assessed. Of the spray chambers evaluated, a cyclone spray chamber (internal volume 22 ml) with cooling jacket was found to offer the best performance and gave a transport efficiency of 7.5% without loss of chromatographic resolution and sensitivity.