Hydrogen isotope analysis: Experimental approach and research trends analysis

Abstract

gas/MS is crucial for accurately assessing hydrogen isotope ratios, including tritium (³H), in fields like environmental forensics, nuclear science, and analytical chemistry. To provide a global perspective and experimental demonstration to obtain accurate tritium (³H) ratios, this work combines bibliometric analysis (i.e evaluation of leading countries, research hotspots, interrelationships of keywords), revealing rapid growth in hydrogen isotopes detection methods, while highlighting research gaps and emerging directions in studies focusing on tritium (³H). Additionally, an experimental approach for the analysis of tritium using gas/MS for samples containing hydrogen isotopologues (i.e H₂, HD, D₂ and ³H) was used to determine LOD (i.e 1.3 to 3.6 μmolmol^-1) at 90Pa, and sensitivity in typical complex samples, such as sample X1 and sample X2. X1 had the highest mole fraction of 101.4 mmol mol^-1 of tritium-based species (T₂ and HT), having and the predicted mole fraction of ³H being 76.2 % while X2 showed little isotopic activity, with 0.073 mmol mol^-1 of ³He detected. D₂, DT, and T₂ were all below the detection limits. gas/MS remains a core analytical chemistry approach for hydrogen isotope determination due to its sensitivity, selectivity, and adaptability in various environments. Furthermore, the integration of bibliometric analysis with experimental verification, the work shows a strong link between global research trends to laboratory feasibility, providing a view of current capabilities and future opportunities in hydrogen isotope quantification.

Keywords: Bibliometric analysis; Double charge distribution detection of limit; Gas/mass spectrometry; Hydrogen isotope; Sensitivity.