ESAS & CANAS 2018 - Programm

Importance of Plasma Spectrometry in Analytical Chemistry

Plasma-based spectrometric techniques underpin many modern analytical workflows across environmental, materials, biological and forensic sciences. By generating high-temperature plasmas, these methods achieve sensitive multi-element detection, isotopic measurements and spatially resolved imaging. Advances discussed at the 2018 Anwendertreffen Plasmaspektrometrie and its CANAS/ESAS satellite sessions highlight the continuous drive to extend detection limits, improve throughput and broaden application domains.

Objectives and Conference Overview

The meeting assembled academic and industrial experts to:

• Present cutting-edge developments in plasma excitation and ionization sources.
• Showcase novel hyphenations of plasma spectrometry with separation and imaging techniques.
• Discuss challenges in elemental speciation, nanoparticle analysis and high-resolution absorption methods.
• Foster collaboration between instrument manufacturers, researchers and end users.

Applied Methodologies and Instrumentation

Presentations covered a broad methodological spectrum including:

• Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS and MS/MS) for environmental and battery material analysis.
• Flowing atmospheric pressure afterglow (FAPA) and halo-FAPA as alternative ionization sources in emission and mass spectrometry.
• Electrothermal vaporization (ETV) coupled with ICP-OES for process monitoring of solids.
• High-resolution continuum source atomic absorption (HR-CS AAS) and molecular absorption for fluoride and silicon detection.
• Laser ablation (LA-ICP-MS) imaging of biological tissues, historic documents and forensic samples.
• Hyphenation strategies such as AF4-ICP-MS and size exclusion chromatography-ICP-MS for nanoparticle speciation.

Main Highlights and Discussion

Keynote and oral contributions emphasized:

• The extension of plasma sources beyond classical ICP to plasma jets and low-temperature plasmas for non-metal analysis.
• Online process control of thin films and lithium battery electrolytes using laser sampling and ICP techniques.
• Single-particle and single-cell ICP-MS as transformative tools in nanomaterial and biological research.
• Multimodal imaging combining elemental mapping with molecular information for medical diagnostics and forensic investigations.

Practical Benefits and Implementation

Participants reported notable benefits:

• Improved sensitivity and selectivity through MS/MS and high-resolution detection schemes.
• Miniaturized and automated sampling interfaces reducing sample preparation time.
• Enhanced speciation capability for hazardous and non-metal elements using hydride generation and molecular absorption approaches.

Future Trends and Opportunities

Emerging directions include:

• Integration of AI-driven data processing for pattern recognition in complex spectra.
• Portable and field-deployable plasma spectrometers for on-site environmental and industrial monitoring.
• Development of plasma sources optimized for non-destructive analysis of cultural heritage artifacts.
• Expansion of single-particle/cell analytics towards high-throughput workflows.

Conclusion

The 2018 Anwendertreffen Plasmaspektrometrie and CANAS/ESAS programs demonstrated significant progress in plasma spectrometry across diverse applications. Continued innovation in plasma sources, detection systems and hyphenated techniques will further elevate analytical performance and broaden accessibility to new user communities.