PNNL

Abstract

Lithium isotopes are relevant to several scientific fields and are routinely measured using different mass spectrometry techniques depending on the nature of the samples. Multi-collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry has become the most prevalent technique due to high throughput and high precision capabilities. To obtain high precision isotopic data, lithium is generally purified through ion exchange resins to reduce and/or eliminate matrix effects and analyzed in solution. In this work, the ThermoScientific Neoma MS/MS MC-ICP-MS was tested to measure high precision lithium isotopic ratios after purification for a variety of geological and environmental matrices. While the double-Wien filter of the Neoma MS/MS requires additional considerations for measuring lithium isotopes compared to previous generation instruments, high precision lithium isotope ratios can be achieved with proper tuning of the lenses.