Increasing productivity in laboratories is ideal for both managers and technicians alike but can be challenging to achieve. This is especially true for laboratories that need to provide results to their customers within short response times, or face variation of the sample load during certain periods of the year.

Elemental analysis
With respect to elemental analysis, this often applies to analytical testing laboratories performing environmental monitoring, such as soil analysis or wastewater analysis. Shortening the sample turnover time would not only offer an opportunity for productivity increases, but also lead to a significant saving in terms of argon gas consumption, thus providing cost savings if the sample load is not increasing.
Manually performing processes like sample preparation, for example, can be time consuming and labor intensive. Automating them is a great way of increasing productivity long term. But the integration of automation requires an investment upfront as well as a thorough investigation of potential impacts on the results, particularly when following regulated methods. There are other aspects that can help boost productivity immediately and with little cost and effort – one of them being overhead times during sample uptake and washing. Most autosamplers used in conjunction with ICP-OES and ICP-MS perform a sequential movement between sample uptake, analysis and rinsing. This is a somewhat inefficient process that can be improved considerably by performing the probe rinsing while the analysis is still ongoing using the remaining amount of sample in the peristaltic pump tubings.
Reducing analysis time per sample
The Step Ahead function of the Thermo Scientific™ iSC-65 Autosampler, simply integrated within the Thermo Scientific™ Qtegra™ Intelligent Scientific Data Solution™ (ISDS) Software, enables analysis and wash steps to be carried out simultaneously, thereby reducing the total analysis time per sample. For a typical ICP-MS method with a current analysis time of approximately 2 minutes per sample, a saving of 25 seconds can be realized per sample this way, equating to a 20% time saving for a sequence containing 240 samples (or a runtime reduction from 8 hours to 6.4 hours). Figure 1 highlights how the Step Ahead function of the iSC-65 autosampler can help you realize productivity improvements.

Another opportunity for productivity increase
In conjunction with ICP-OES, there is another huge opportunity to realize time savings for productivity increases. As highlighted in a previous blog post, ICP-OES typically uses two ways of observing the light emitted from the plasma, along the axis of the plasma (axial view) and perpendicular to it (radial view).
There are good reasons for dedicated exposure of the chip in axial and radial modes (higher sensitivity and improved robustness for all elements), and historically, the difference in sensitivity between the two modes has been significant. However, the Thermo Scientific™ iCAP™ PRO Series ICP-OES retains a higher sensitivity in radial mode without compromising robustness, so that often times, a single exposure is enough to allow full coverage of both abundant major elements and trace contaminants.
All models of the iCAP PRO Series ICP-OES also allow for a simultaneous observation in UV and visible range (between 167.021 and 852.145 nm), which can again enable a significant reduction of the analysis time per sample.
Combining these unique characteristics leads to a benefit in all steps of the process of analyzing a sample. A good example is the analysis of fertilizers as per the EU regulation EU 2019/1009. A team at Thermo Fisher Scientific has recently applied the iSC-65 autosampler and a Thermo Scientific™ iCAP™ PRO XP ICP-OES for this analysis and was able to achieve a sample turnover time of only 36 seconds per sample, without the need of additional accessories, such as a valve system. Detection limits in the low µg·L-1 range were obtained in the study and fully satisfied the needs as per the regulation, also including those for most toxic elements such as cadmium, mercury and lead.
The method delivered accurate and precise results, as demonstrated through the analysis of a certified refence material showing quantitative recovery. At the same time, it allowed the robust and consistent analysis of more than 500 unknown samples in just a little more than 5 hours. This is demonstrated by the recovery of the internal standard during the full runtime of the sequence (Figure 2).

Click here to find out more about the iSC-65 autosampler.
Click here to find out more about the iCAP PRO Series ICP-OES and its applications.
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