Beryllium Analytical Signal Using ERIAD Mass-Spectrometry for Various Sample Preparation Methods

The significance of the problem of determining the concentration of beryllium in solutions is substantiated. A method of ERIAD mass-spectrometry (atmospheric pressure electrospray with in-source atomization) is compared with a number of other common procedures used for solving the aforementioned problem and a number of advantages of ERIAD mass-spectrometry are highlighted. The possibility of measuring the beryllium concentration in various chemical forms (sulfate, nitric acid and chloride salts) using ERIAD mass-spectrometry is studied. The layout and the principle of operation of a small-size mass spectrometer MI-20 Low Mass (MS-Bio, Russia), which is intended for the determination of beryllium in solutions, are described. A method is proposed for the preparation of a beryllium salt solution using a lithium salt as an internal standard. The resolution of the instrument made it possible to separate lithium isotopes ( 6 Li and 7 Li). It is shown that beryllium can be detected from the salts of chloride and nitric acids with close relative sensitivity coefficients. The obtained detection limit for beryllium chloride in those measurements was ~1–2 × 10 –8 M. At the same time, the analytical signal of beryllium cannot be detected during electrospray of the solution of beryllium sulfate under any experimental conditions. It has been suggested that this effect may be attributed to the features of dissolution of beryllium sulfate, in particular, to hydrolysis and formation of complex compounds with sulfate, including complex polymer and colloidal forms.