Nano‐Powdered Calcium Carbonate Reference Materials: Significant Progress for Microanalysis?

Homogeneity, mass fractions of about forty trace elements and Sr isotope composition of Ca carbonate reference materials (RMs) between original and nano‐powdered pellets are compared. Our results using nanosecond and femtosecond LA‐(MC)‐ICP‐MS show that the nano‐pellets of the RMs MACS‐3NP, JCp‐1NP and JCt‐1NP are about a factor of 2–3 more homogeneous than the original samples MACS‐3, JCp‐1 and JCt‐1, and are therefore much more suitable for microanalytical purposes. With the exception of Si, the mass fractions of the synthetic RM MACS‐3 agree with its fine‐grained analogue MACS‐3NP. Very small, but significant, differences between original and nano‐pellets are observed in the RMs JCp‐1 and JCt‐1 for some trace elements with very low contents, indicating the need for re‐certification. Strontium mass fractions in the analysed RMs are high (1500–7000 mg kg −1 ), and their isotope compositions determined by LA‐MC‐ICP‐MS in the original and the nano‐pellets agree within uncertainty limits.