O Uso da Ablação a Laser Combinada com a Espectrometria de Massa com Plasma Indutivamente Acoplado (LA-ICP-MS) para a Quantificação de Elementos de Terras-raras em Amostras Geológicas: um Tutorial Básico

Resumo

Several types of rare earth element bearing minerals are considered strategic because they have a high
technological and economic value and often have important levels of associated radioactive elements
as well. In addition, rare earth elements have been widely used as geochemical tracers of geological
processes and in geochronological studies for minerals and hydrocarbons prospecting. The abundances
of the mass fractions of rare earth elements present in geological materials can be determined by several
multi-elementary analytical techniques, being that the technique of Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled
Plasma Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) has many advantages. This work aims to present a brief report
on the importance of the characterization of rare earth elements and the benefits and challenges imposed
on the use of the LA-ICP-MS technique.