Nu Instruments | Multi-Element Nanoparticle Analysis Using Vitesse TOF-ICP-MS
Discover how the Nu Vitesse TOF-ICP-MS enables simultaneous multi-element analysis of individual nanoparticles. This application note explains high-speed data acquisition, advanced particle detection workflows and flexible data reduction tools that help researchers characterise particle composition, origin and population distributions with greater confidence.
Single particle ICP-MS is widely used for nanoparticle analysis, but traditional sequential mass analysers can only measure a limited number of elements during the short signal generated by an individual particle. Vitesse combines time-of-flight mass spectrometry with high-speed data acquisition to capture complete elemental information from individual nanoparticles.
The system continuously acquires data at microsecond timescales and processes spectra in real time using GPU-based computing. This allows statistically meaningful numbers of particles to be measured without compromising peak detection, background discrimination or particle size distribution measurements.
Nu Quant software further simplifies analysis by identifying particle events, integrating isotope signals and generating multi-element calibrations. Researchers can evaluate elemental associations, particle composition distributions and particle populations using built-in visualisation and reporting tools.
Key Takeaways:
- Simultaneously measures multiple elements in individual nanoparticles.
- Captures high-quality particle data using 25-100 µs spectral acquisition.
- Provides advanced data reduction, calibration and reporting with Nu Quant.
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