Advances in atmospheric pressure plasma-based optical emission spectrometry for the analysis of heavy metals

Over the past decade, miniaturized optical emission spectrometry (OES) systems utilizing atmospheric pressure plasmas (APPs) as radiation sources have exhibited impressive capabilities in trace heavy metal analysis. As the core of the analytical system, APPs sources possess unique properties such as compact size, light weight, low energy requirement, ease of fabrication, and relatively low manufacturing cost. This critical review focuses on recent progress of APP-based OES systems employed for the determination of heavy metals. Influences of technical details including the sample introduction manner, the sampling volume, the sample flow rate, the pH of the solutions on the plasma stability and the intensity of analytical signals are comprehensively discussed. Furthermore, the review emphasizes the analytical challenges faced by these techniques and highlights the opportunities for further development in the field of heavy metal detection.