Summary
Sputter conditions are outlined for the identification of chemically sensitive salt compounds, such as nitrates or sulphates, in multicomponent samples of environmental origin using dynamic SIMS for depth-profiling with nanoscale resolution. Sputtering with 1 keV Xe+ has been found to be appropriate to enable both the emission of decisive molecular ions with enough intensity as well as substantial erosion for depth-profiling. The use of heavy projectiles reduces the destruction of chemical compounds in the surface of the solid and enhances sensitivity and identification power of SIMS. The method was applied to the analysis of urban outdoor aerosol particles to investigate the conversion of NaCl into Na2SO4 or NaNO3 by the interaction of sea salt aerosol with the atmospheric pollutants NOx and SOx. Only NaNO3 was found in the sea salt fraction.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Warneck P (1987) Chemistry in the natural atmosphere. International Geophysics Series 41. Academic Press, London
Fichtner M, Lipp M, Goschnick J, Ache H-J (1991) Surf Interf Anal 17:151–157
Behrisch R (1983) Sputtering by particle bombardment II. Topics in applied physics, vol 52. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York
Marletta G, Pignataro S (1987) Nucl Instrum Methods Phys Res B19/20:1013–1017
Contarini S, Rabalais JW (1985) J Electron Spectrosc Relat Phenom 35:191–201
Marletta G (1988) Nucl Instrum Methods Phys Res B32:204–210
Christie AB, Lee J, Sutherland I, Walls JM (1983) Appl Surf Sci 15:224–237
Marien J, De Pauw E (1982) Int J Mass Spectrom Ion Phys 43:233–247
Ganjei JD, Colton RJ, Murday JS (1981) Int J Mass Spectrom Ion Proc 37:49–65
Fichtner M, Goschnick J, Ache H-J (1993) Appl Surf Sci (in press)
Fichtner M (1992) KfK Report 5017 (in German)
Gravenhorst G, Müller H-P, Franken H (1979) Ges Aerosolforsch 7:182–187
Zetsch C, Pfahler G, Behnke W (1991) J Aerosol Sci 19 (7):1203
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Fichtner, M., Goschnick, J. & Ache, H.J. Identification of nitrates and sulphates with dynamic SIMS. Fresenius J Anal Chem 348, 201–204 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00325360
Received:
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00325360