Comparison of the evaporation processes of classical spectrography and optical spectrometry tandem technique for the determination of the relevant environmental elements

The evaporation as a part of the spectrochemical excitation process is a complicated procedure during which different thermo-chemical reactions connected mainly to the formation of carbides are overshot. This one is accelerated namely at the 4000 K on the top of the carrier electrode. The carbide creation markedly affects the evaporation process of single elements of the given matrix and modifies this process. In spite of this it is evident that the intensity of the DC arc has a significant impact on the evaporation of all elements. The evaporation capability of two optical methods, the classical non-controlled direct current (DC) arc spectrography and the PC controlled DC arc optical emission spectrometry, have been compared for the determination of some environmental important elements (Al, Cr, Ni, and V). The experiments were carried out using grating spectrograph PGS-2 and simultaneous multi-channel LECO 750 spectrometer which is connected to a separated evaporation cell and adjusted to the Marinković plasma source. Standardized evaporation curves were designed and the half-time (t_50%) values and the total (t_100%) evaporation time values were calculated. The basic statistical evaluation was done and the main figures of the merit were calculated.