Abstract:Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-OES) commercial instruments have been available for nearly 50 years and have become an important tool for elemental analysis, widely used in various fields such as environment, materials, geology, metallurgy, and more. Reviews the development history of ICP-OES instruments and provides a comprehensive overview of techniques such as observation, Cost Reduction and Efficiency Improvement, sample introduction, and interference reduction in ICP-OES. It also summarizes the application of ICP-OES in environmental samples, food samples, geological and mineral samples, metal samples, inorganic non-metallic samples, and chemical and chemical engineering samples. In recent years, research on other analytical methods such as Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) and Microwave Plasma Optical Emission Spectroscopy (MIP-OES) has been increasing. These methods offer advantages such as relatively lower costs and higher testing throughput. However, a large portion of these research methods still require validation through ICP-OES, which fully attests to the reliability of the analytical results provided by ICP-OES. In the future, there is still considerable room for advancement in ICP-OES, particularly in research directions such as the miniaturization, vehicle-mounting, and intelligent operation of the instruments.