Development of AC-driven liquid electrode plasma for sensitive detection of metals

A novel liquid electrode plasma (LEP) driven by AC, which is used as an excitation source for elemental analysis, has been developed for the first time. The conditions such as chip layout and flow rate were found to produce the plasma in the channel. The mechanism of AC LEP generation was determined. AC LEP could be sustained in the resin channel with no severe damage on the channel. The emission spectra of electrolyte, lead and cadmium solution were obtained and compared with those generated by DC LEP. AC LEP was developed for the quantitative determination of lead and cadmium with limits of detection of 75.0 µg/L (ppb) and 4.5 µg/L (ppb), respectively. The novel plasma source is promising for on-chip combination and integration because it could be maintained at low flow rates on a resin-based platform.