How to clean Isomist

Hello sophia, thank for sharing this question.

One suggestion is to use an intermediary solvent in which kerosene and methanol are miscible. Some options are 1-butanol or maybe tert-butanol. Try the solubility before applying to the Isomist. If it does not work, you could try using an non-ionic detergent to clean out the kerosene, then rinse a lot with Type 1 water and then insert methanol. You should do this with the system disconnected from the torch, to avoid the tertiary aerosol reaching the plasma.

As for methanol samples, you should definitely go with the volatile solvent sample intro kit (0.8 mm ID torch , Isomist temp around -5°C and peristaltic pumping at 8-10 RPM), otherwise you will likely extinguish the plasma, if introducing it directly. One option is to dilute the samples in HNO3 1% (maybe 10x), and use aqueous standards in your calibration curve. To avoid accuracy problems due to sample transportation, I recommend the use of internal standardization using Y at 5-10 ppm using a "Y" piece (maybe white/white for samples and orange/white tubing for the IS, with a double pass SC). Remember that diluting the samples 10x will increase your LOQ 10x, so evaluate carefully if this is a valid alternative to your routine. Diluting it 10x you may be able to run the methanol samples just as aqueous (without the need of Isomist and with the standard intro kit).

Hope this helps,

Rodolfo

Thanks a lot for your explanation. We have Isomist but with a 1.4 mm ID torch. If I try to use 1.4 mm ID torch und Isomist  -5°C, could you please suggest, what kind of standard solution should I use? Aquous standards diluted by methnol or ethanol,  injected by Isomist with temperature -5°C? Or maybe I can use aquous standards diluted by 1% v/v HNO3 directly? With aquous standards diluted by 1% v/v, I am worried that with the 1.4 mm ID torch we can not get teh accurate results.

For the methnol samples, do I need addition of oxygen? I think the methanol sample will not build up much carbon in the torch. I will try.

Thank you very much!

Thanks a lot for your explanation. We have Isomist but with a 1.4 mm ID torch. If I try to use 1.4 mm ID torch und Isomist  -5°C, could you please suggest, what kind of standard solution should I use? Aquous standards diluted by methnol or ethanol,  injected by Isomist with temperature -5°C? Or maybe I can use aquous standards diluted by 1% v/v HNO3 directly? With aquous standards diluted by 1% v/v, I am worried that with the 1.4 mm ID torch we can not get teh accurate results.

For the methnol samples, do I need addition of oxygen? I think the methanol sample will not build up much carbon in the torch. I will try.

Thank you very much!