AGILENT Technologies has launched the Agilent 8800 triple quadrupole inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) system, the ICP-QQQ.
ICP-MS is a highly sensitive type of mass spectrometry. It can determine a range of metals and several non-metals at very low concentrations.
ICP-MS is based on coupling together an inductively coupled plasma as a method of producing ions (ionization) with a mass spectrometer as a method of separating and detecting the ions.
According to Agilent Technologies, the ICP-QQQ system offers improved performance compared to single quadrupole ICP-MS, and provides mass spectrometry operation for controlled and consistent interference removal in reaction mode.
ICP-QQQ also addresses high-end application requirements, with flexible analysis capabilities unavailable on single quadrupole machines.
The QQQ configuration of the Agilent 8800 controls the ions that enter the collision/reaction cell, so the reaction conditions remain consistent and predictable even if the sample composition changes.
The new instrument provides turnkey operation in a range of reaction modes, delivering effective and consistent interference removal for problematic elements in difficult samples.
The Agilent 8800 can also be set up to operate like a single-quad ICP-MS, allowing existing methodologies to be used. It provides better detection limits for phosphorus-containing and sulfur-containing compounds measured using LC-ICP-MS.
Other capabilities include:
- Ultra-trace analysis of elements that suffer interferences in high-purity samples (Ge and As in HCl; V and Ti in H2SO4, and more).
- Reliable low-level measurement of selenium and arsenic in soil, rock and plant materials, where both polyatomic and doubly charged interferences may occur.
- Quantitative analysis of sulfur and phosphorus in DNA and protein/peptides for life-science applications.