Features of recording the analytical signal of beryllium using APESI mass-spectrometry and different procedures of sample preparation

The significance of the problem of determining the concentration of beryllium in solutions is substantiated. A method of APESI mass-spectrometry (atmospheric pressure electrospray ionization with in-source atomization) is compared with a number of other common procedures used for solving the aforementioned problem and a number of advantages of APESI mass spectrometry are highlighted. The possibility of measuring the beryllium concentration in various chemical forms using APESI mass-spectrometry is studied. We used sulfate, nitric acid and chloride salts of beryllium. The measurements were carried out on a specialized small-sized mass spectrometer MI-20 «LowMass» developed at MS-Bio Company, Russia. A schematic diagram of the device designed to determine the concentration of beryllium in solutions is presented and described. A technique of solution preparation and measurement procedure are proposed. Presented ass spectra obtained on the samples containing beryllium and lithium isotopes were used as an internal standard. It is shown that beryllium can be detected from the salts of chloride and nitric acids with close relative sensitivity coefficients. The obtained detection limit for beryllium chloride in those measurements was ~1 – 2 × 10–8 M. At the same time, the analytical signal of beryllium cannot be detected during electrospray of the solution of beryllium sulfate under any experimental conditions. It has been suggested that this effect may be attributed to the features of dissolution of beryllium sulfate, in particular, to hydrolysis and formation of complex compounds with sulfate, including complex polymer and colloidal forms.