Evaluation of a low‐resolution near‐IR monochromator for atomic emission detection in capillary gas chromatography

A single 0.2 m focal length near‐IR monochromator providing a 0.8–3.2 nm effective bandpass was evaluated as spectrometer for F‐, Cl‐, Br‐, I‐, S‐, and P‐selective atomic emission detection in capillary gas chromatography. With optimized plasma conditions and careful wavelength selection, interferences from eluting hydrocarbons were almost eliminated for all the elements studied (element‐to‐carbon selectivities between 1000:1 and 10000:1). For Cl and S, other heteroatoms were found not to cause cross‐interferences. F‐, Br‐, I‐, and P‐selective detection, however, was complicated by this second type of non‐specificity. For these atoms, elemental confirmation was carried out by analyzing the samples also for heteroatoms potentially causing interferences.