Direct Elemental Analyses of Ink on Paper by Laser Ablation ICP-MS

spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) has already successfully been applied to a range of applications. For forensic analyses, materials research and quality control, the analysis of ink applied to paper or other substrates is necessary. For analyses of inks from an inkjet printer or toner from a laser printer, the extraction of ink from the paper may be difficult or impossible. The ability of the CETAC LSX-500 to ablate thin layers and deliver sufficient material to the ICP or ICP-MS is required for such analyses. The LA system must be able to deliver flexible ablation patterns, possess high resolution imaging for locating the sampling area and be adaptable to a variety of sampling cells to accommodate various size samples. This application note describes the use of the LSX-500 for elemental analysis of inks on paper