Abstract
A hollow anode-solution cathode glow discharge (HA-SCGD) was designed as a plasma excitation source for optical emission spectrometry. The operation parameters such as the discharge current, argon flow rate and solution flow rate were investigated. The spatial distribution profiles of normalized results of spectral bands and spectral lines were investigated and analyzed. The detection limits of Na, Li, K, Ca, Mg, Pb, Sr, Mn, Rb, Cs and Zn were 0.22, 0.69, 1.33, 240.37, 21.55, 529, 619.43, 209.51, 2.94, 7.13 and 206.95 µg L−1, respectively. The repeatability, expressed as the relative standard deviation for these elements, was determined to be within the range from 0.53 to 2.70%. The Ca, Fe, K, Mg and Na concentrations in a certified reference material were quantitatively analyzed, and the results obtained by the HA-SCGD system agreed well with the reference values. The results show that the HA-SCGD system accurately and stably determined metals in aqueous solution.