Boron analysis of soil solutions and plant digests using a photodiode‐array equipped ICP spectrometer

Abstract An inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometer (ICP‐AES) system based on a linear self‐scanning photodiode array has been utilized for analysis of boron in soil solutions and plant digests. The emission spectrometer has three integrated optical sub‐systems ‐ a preselection polychromator in which an interchangeable mask at the Rowland circle allowed simultaneous selection of four emission wavelengths for boron; a recombination system; and a 1‐m echelle‐based high resolution spectrometer. Signal integration for up to 100 seconds on the imaging sensor allowed highly reproducible and accurate simultaneous determinations of both signal and background on the boron 208.893, 208.959, 249.678, and 249.773 nm emission lines, confirmed by measurements of boron content of standard reference materials. In soil solutions, measurements of boron to a level of 10 ‐ 15 ng ml‐1 were possible, with varying degrees of sensitivity on the different lines.