With a mass fraction of more than 7.5% in the earth’s crust, aluminum is the most prevalent metal on this planet. Therefore it comes as no surprise that it is an important metal used in many aspects of life, from aluminum foil and cans for food storage to constructions that require a hard yet light weight material, e.g. in the automotive and aerospace industry. It is also widely used as electric or thermal conductor. Other applications include the use as catalyst or in alloys for lithium ion batteries (NMA). As a result, aluminum alloys are the most frequently used non-ferrous alloys.
With the variety of uses also comes a variety of elements that need to be analyzed, often at the trace level. ICP-OES is an accepted technology for the analysis of aluminum. Various methods and standards (e.g. ASTM E3061-17, DIN EN 14242:2004, JIS H1307) exist.
This application note reveals the limits of detection in high-purity aluminum using axial plasma observation.