Determination of Gallium Ions Released from New Antibacterial Stainless Steel in Normal Saline and Phosphate Buffered Solution by Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry

A method for the determination of gallium ions released from new antibacterial stainless steel in normal saline and phosphate buffered solution (PBS) by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry has been established. To eliminate the effect of salt deposition, a Burgerner AriMist high-salt-resistant nebulizer and a thickened skimmer cone insert were employed in the present sample system. In the meantime, the matrix effect was corrected by diluting the sample and using indium as the internal standard. Under the selected analysis conditions, the linear correlation coefficient of the calibration curve was greater than 0.999, the detection limit was 0.08 μg/L, the relative standard deviations of determination results was less than 3.0% (n=6) and the recoveries were between 98.3% and 105.4%. The method is simple and fast, and suitable for the rapid determination of trace gallium in normal saline and PBS.