Determination of platinum, palladium, rhodium and titanium in automotive catalytic converters using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry with liquid nebulization

ICP-RLS was used for the determination of Pt, Pd, Rh and Ti in automotive catalytic converters, A microwave digestion procedure employing a mixture of H2O, HF, HCl and HNO3 was studied and compared with a procedure using a mixture of H2SO(4), H3PO4 and aqua regia. The use of the latter results in significant losses of Pt and Ti, The influence of sample size on the recoveries of Pt, Rh, Ti and some REEs is discussed, It is shown that a sample amount larger than 0.12 g results in incomplete recoveries of REEs with no significant loss of the other elements, Instrument calibration using the standard addition method and matrix matching are discussed, It is shown that close matrix matching using cordierite, the substrate, with a washcoat, the catalyst support, provides spectral interference correction for polyatomic oxide species, The results obtained are in good agreement with those obtained by wavelength-dispersive X-ray fluorescence analysis.