Resumen: In this work, the effects of using collision/reaction cell (CRC) technology in quadrupole-based ICP-MS (ICP-QMS) instrumentation operated in single-particle (SP) mode have been assessed. The influence of (i) various CRC gases, (ii) gas flow rates, (iii) nanoparticle (NP) sizes and (iv) NP types was evaluated using Ag, Au and Pt NPs with both a traditional ICP-QMS instrument and a tandem ICP-mass spectrometer. It has been shown that using CRC technology brings about a significant increase in the NP signal peak width (from 0.5 up to 6¿ms). This effect is more prominent for a heavier gas (e.g., NH3) than for a lighter one (e.g., H2 or He). At a higher gas flow rate and/or for larger particle sizes >100¿nm), the NP signal duration was prolonged to a larger extent. This effect of using CRC technology has been further demonstrated by characterizing custom-made 50 and 200¿nm Fe3O4 NPs (originally strongly affected by the occurrence of spectral overlap) using different CRC approaches (H2 on-mass and NH3 mass-shift). The use of NH3 (monitoring of Fe as the Fe(NH3)2+ reaction product ion at m/z¿=¿90 amu) induces a significant peak broadening compared to that observed when using H2 (6.10¿±¿1.60 vs. 0.94¿±¿0.49¿ms). This extension of transit time can most likely be attributed to the collisions/interactions of the ion cloud generated by a single NP event with the CRC gas and it even precludes 50¿nm Fe3O4 NPs to be detected when using the NH3 mass-shift approach. Based on these results, the influence of a longer peak width on the accuracy of SP-ICP-MS measurement data (NP size, particle number density and mass concentration) must be taken into account when using CRC technology as a means to overcome spectral overlap. To mitigate the potential detrimental effect of using CRC technology in the characterization of NPs via SP-ICP-MS(/MS), the use of light gases and low gas flow rates is recommended. Idioma: Inglés DOI: 10.1016/j.aca.2019.05.077 Año: 2019 Publicado en: Analytica Chimica Acta 1077 (2019), 95-106 ISSN: 0003-2670 Factor impacto JCR: 5.977 (2019) Categ. JCR: CHEMISTRY, ANALYTICAL rank: 10 / 86 = 0.116 (2019) - Q1 - T1 Factor impacto SCIMAGO: 1.414 - Analytical Chemistry (Q1) - Spectroscopy (Q1) - Environmental Chemistry (Q1) - Biochemistry (Q1)