Laser sintered adsorption of metal elements on oxide nanoparticles for laser induced breakdown spectroscopic analysis of solid

Oxide nanoparticles have shown excellent absorption capability of metal elements in fluid environment. Here for elemental analysis of solid powder samples (tea as an example) with laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS), we successfully applied laser sintering induced adsorption of metal elements on oxide nanoparticles. Doped with Al₂O₃ or SiO₂ nanoparticles followed by using continuous-wave laser to sinter the mixture pellets, the LIBS signals for the tea mixture pellets increased to 3–7 times for most metal elements, such as Mg, Ca, Na, and K, compared with those analyzed directly without laser sintering. Furtherly the enhancement was due to the laser sintered adsorption of metal elements on oxide nanoparticles. Owing to a high percentage addition of Al₂O₃ nanoparticles in the tea pellets, the matrix effect from different kinds of tea was also reduced efficiently, which facilitate quantitative analyses for different tea samples. This method may find promising applications in elemental analysis of various solid samples.