Laser-induced plasma spectroscopy (LIPS) for characterization of hydrocolloids

Laser-induced plasma spectroscopy (LIPS) was used to study the nature and abundance of heavy metal hydrocolloids with particle diameters between 0.1 micrometer and 1 micrometer in aquifer systems. A miniaturized ultrafiltration system with a 0.1 micrometer membrane filter was employed for on site analysis. For representative heavy metal colloids absolute limits of detection in the ng-range were achieved with good reproducibility. The device is suitable for subsurface sampling under flow conditions, thus minimizing sampling artifacts.