Determination of Trace Elements in Copper by ICP-MS Application Note · PlasmaQuant MS Elite

Introduction

High purity copper is an excellent conductor of electricity and is commonly used to make electrical equipment, although small amounts of impurities can significantly reduce the conductivity. Electrical cables are made from pure copper as they must carry electricity for many kilometers through high-voltage transmission lines.

The characteristics of pure copper metal are high ductility, high electrical and thermal conductivity, high impact strength, good creep (deformation) resistance under heat or mechanical stress, easy to weld and has low relative volatility under high vacuum due to low oxygen content.

High purity copper is produced via electrolysis, where less pure, anodic copper refined from concentrating and smelting copper ore minerals, is reduced to better than 99.99% copper at the cathode.

ICP-MS offers the capability to reach sub microgram per kilogram (ppb) detection limits making it an ideal tool for quantitative measurement of impurities in pure metals such as copper. The high-sensitivity PlasmaQuant® MS Elite model, achieving in excess of 1.5 million counts per second per ppb on the Indium 115 isotope, was used in the analysis of high purity copper metal samples and
standard reference materials.