Achieving 0.2% Relative Expanded Uncertainty in Ion Chromatography Analysis Using a High-Performance Methodology

• Published in: Analytical chemistry (Washington) Vol. 83; no. 10; pp. 3801 - 3807
• Main Authors: Brennan, Ryan G, Butler, Therese A, Winchester, Michael R
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Chemical Society 15.05.2011
• Subjects: Analytical chemistry; Chemistry; Chromatographic methods and physical methods associated with chromatography; Chromatography; Correlation analysis; Exact sciences and technology; Other chromatographic methods; Spectrometric and optical methods; Spectrum analysis; Uncertainty; High performance; Optical spectrometry; Uncertainty; Peak resolution; Coupled method; Internal standard; Use; Atomic emission spectrometry; Inductive coupling plasma spectrometry; Ion chromatography; Emission spectrometry; Reference material; Technique; Application
• ISSN: 0003-2700; 1520-6882
• DOI: 10.1021/ac200290y

A high-performance (HP) technique that was originally developed for inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) has been successfully translated to ion chromatography (IC) to enable analyses with extremely low uncertainty. As an example application of the HP-IC methodology, analyses of several National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Standard Reference Materials (SRMs) in the SRM 3180 series of anion standard solutions are reported. The relative expanded uncertainty values expressed at 95% confidence for these analyses range from 0.087% to 0.27% and average 0.18%. Strong correlation between analyte and internal standard anion peak heights or peak areas, as well as the use of a unique drift-correction approach, is shown to be important for attaining such low uncertainty.