The Environmental Chemical Sciences Group has developed isotope dilution microwave induced combustion sector-field inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ID-MIC-SF-ICP-MS) as a new measurement method for the determination of sulfur in coals.
NIST has a long history of developing high accuracy analytical methods and SRM materials for trace elements in fossil fuels. NIST has applied the microwave induced combustion methodology in combination with isotope dilution analysis for sulfur determinations, representing the first-reported combination of this robust sample preparation methodology and high-accuracy quantification approach. Medium-resolution mode sector-field inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry is utilized to avoid spectral interferences on the sulfur isotopes.