Determination of gold in biological materials by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry with a molybdenum tube atomizer

Electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry (ETA-ASS) of gold with a molybdenum tube atomizer has been investigated. A sensitive ETA-AAS method was developed. The gold absorption signal became higher with the heating rate of the tube atomizer and as the ratio of hydrogen in the argon purge gas decreased. The optimal heating rate and the optimal gas flow rate were 5.5 C/msec and Ar 480 ml/min + H(2) 20 ml/min, respectively. The absolute characteristic mass (the mass of element giving 0.0044 abs.) of gold by the atomizer was 1.8 pg and the detection limit was 130 pg/ml (3S/N). These values were > 10 times better than those obtained with graphite atomizers, ICP and ICP-MS. The interferences caused by large amounts of interferents were evaluated. The addition of thiourea served to eliminate severe interferences. The recovery of spiked gold in biological materials was in the range of 101-106%.     

Tube-probe atomisation in electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry

A method is described in which liquid samples are deposited by a conventional autosampler on to a tubular graphite probe positioned inside a 7.5 mm i.d. Pye Unicam SP-9 atomiser cuvette. The tube-probe has certain advantages in comparison with the flat probe systems described previously. In particular, the precision of determinations in acid media is improved since the sample solution is better confined within the atomiser and hence the effects of droplet spreading are curtailed. Also, the tube-probe is shown to reduce diffusional loss effects at high atomiser temperatures, in comparison with flat probe operation. The characteristic mass values obtained for volatile and medium volatile elements are similar for tube and flat probes. Since a greater sample volume (up to 40 μl) can be deposited and dried in the tube-probe, improved detection limits are anticipated for these elements. For more involatile elements, the greater mass of the tube-probe results in poorer sensitivity by a factor of × 3 for V and × 4 for Cr.     

Determination of total magnesium in biological samples using electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry

Magnesium content is an important diagnostic parameter in medicine. It is recognized that its determination in one compartment is not sufficient for reliable information about the magnesium status in the body. In addition to the common procedures of magnesium determination in blood by flame atomic absorption spectrometry, the procedure of electrothermal atomization has also been developed and applied to the analysis of blood fractions, mononuclear cells and isolated nuclei of liver cells.Electrothermal atomization is preferred in cases where the sample size is limited and the magnesium content low. The total errors are in the order of 3–4%. Various techniques of sample pretreatment have been tested and direct dilution with 0.05 mol l⁻¹ nitric acid was optimal when the samples were not mineralized. The calibration graph based on standards containing albumin was found to give the best results, as the form of magnesium in the samples may influence the ashing and atomization processes. Good agreement was obtained for determination of magnesium in standard serum. The results are compared with those obtained by the standard flame atomization technique.     

Rapid determination of molybdenum in botanical material by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry

Low levels of molybdenum in plant samples are determined by simple digestion in nitric acid followed by electrothermal spectrometry. Sensitivity is enhanced by nitric acid whereas chloride, sulfuric acid, and perchloric acid have inhibiting effects. Recovery of molybdate added to plant samples averaged 94.3%, with a relative standard deviation of 10% for 0.50 μg Mo g^-1 of plant material. Large numbers of samples can be screened for molybdenum content without tedious organic extractions or long dry ashing processes.     

Direct determination of cadmium in biological material using electrothermal atomization atomic absorption spectrometry with a metal tube atomizer and a matrix modifier

A direct determination of cadmium by electrothermal atomization atomic absorption spectrometry with a molybdenum tube atomizer has been investigated. Direct calibration method with cadmium standard solutions and ultrasonic agitation method of a solution including sample powder were used. Sulfur served as a matrix modifier for removal of interferences. Though this direct analytical method for cadmium determination in biological materials had a relatively large standard deviation, the accuracy was similar or superior to those of a sample digestion method and the direct analysis without sulfur. The advantages of this method are its simplicity, low cost, high speed of analysis, and rapid calibration.     

Determination of traces of molybdenum in foods by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry

Low levels of molybdenum in different food samples were determined by atomic absorption spectrometry with electrothermal atomization after destruction of organic matter using four different methods, involving dry ashing at 600°C, wet digestion with heating with nitric/sulphuric and nitric/sulphuric/perchloric acid mixtures or direct extraction with dilute hydrochloric acid. In all cases the working conditions, reproducibility, precision and accuracy were investigated. The dry ashing method was generally the optimum destruction method.     

Determination of phosphorus by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry with a phosphorus hollow-cathode lamp as light source

Graphite tubes are pre-heated with a 10% (w/v) zirconium solution, and a 1% (w/v) zirconium solution is injected prior to each phosphorus sample solution. The calibration graph is linear up to ca. 100 ng P, and the detection limit is 5 ng. Phosphorus in water-soluble organic and inorganic compounds can be determined directly by the proposed method, which is also suitable for the determination of phosphorus in NBS standard reference plant materials and in green tea leaves.     

Determination of gallium in biological materials by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry

In this determination of gallium, the condition of the graphite tubes influences the peak height. Common acids and salts seriously affect the results, but in the presence of EDTA, interferences of nitric and hydrochloric acids are suppressed completely, and interferences of phosphoric acid and some salts are suppressed partly. To compensate for the effects, a standard addition procedure is proposed, and is applied to healthy and tumor.bearing mice. A linear calibration is obtained for 0.12–12 ng Ga in 50-μl aliquots. The method is applied to tissues and body fluids with good recovery and precision.     

Determination of arsenic in biological fluids by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry

A procedure for the determination of the total content of arsenic in urine, serum and blood by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry (ETAAS) is described. Zeeman correction is used to compensate the high background signals. The samples are diluted (1 + 1 for urine and 1 + 3 for both serum and blood samples) in a medium containing 0.1% w/v Triton X-100 before being introduced directly into the furnace. A solution containing 15% w/v hydrogen peroxide, 0.65% w/v nitric acid and 0.5% w/v nickel is also introduced into the atomizer by means of a separate injection. Calibration is carried out against aqueous standards for blood and serum samples and using the standard additions method for urine samples. The detection limit is 20 pg (2 ng ml-1). The reliability of the procedure is checked by analyzing three certified reference materials and by recovery studies.     

Comparative study of chemical modifiers for the determination of molybdenum in milk by electrothermal atomisation atomic absorption spectrometry

A comparative study of various chemical modifiers for the determination of molybdenum in milk by electrothermal atomisation atomic absorption spectrometry was carried out. Methods with nitric acid or barium difluoride as the chemical modifier and in the absence of a chemical modifier were studied by introducing the milk samples directly into the graphite furnace with octyl alcohol. The graphite furnace programme, amount of modifier and the calibration and additions graphs were studied in all instances. The characteristic masses were 17.82, 18.64 and 12.08 pg of molybdenum in the absence of a chemical modifier and with nitric acid or barium difluoride as the chemical modifier, respectively. The precision, accuracy and interferences of the method were also investigated.     

Determination of lead in biological materials by constant-temperature electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry

A comparison is made between a platform-equipped Perkin-Elmer HGA-500 and a recently designed two-step constant-temperature graphite furnace with respect to susceptibility to interference effects as well as attainable detection limits. It is shown that larger quantities of biological samples can be used with the constant-temperature furnace without suppressing the analyte signal, resulting in lower detection limits. Materials studied include NBS Olyster Tissue and Bovine Liver, and human lung tissue and human blood.     

Investigation of phosphorus atomization using high-resolution continuum source electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry

The atomization of phosphorus in electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry has been investigated using a high-resolution continuum source atomic absorption spectrometer and atomization from a graphite platform as well as from a tantalum boat inserted in a graphite tube. A two-step atomization mechanism is proposed for phosphorus, where the first step is a thermal dissociation, resulting in a fast atomization signal early in the atomization stage, and the second step is a slow release of phosphorus atoms from the graphite tube surface following the adsorption of molecular phosphorus at active sites of the graphite surface. Depending on experimental conditions only one of the mechanisms or both might be active. In the absence of a modifier and with atomization from a graphite or tantalum platform the second mechanism appears to be dominant, whereas in the presence of sodium fluoride as a modifier both mechanisms are observed. Intercalation of phosphorus into the graphite platform in the condensed phase has also been observed; this phosphorus, however, appears to be permanently trapped in the structure of the graphite and does not contribute to the absorption signal.     

Determination of platinum in alumina-supported automotive catalyst material by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry

Platinum (0.01–0.2%) is determined after dissolution in sulfuric and hydrochloric acids and addition of palladium and rhodium to compensate for interelement effects. At the 0.06% level, the relative standard deviation is 2%. The results agree within 4% with those obtained by chemical methods.     

Determination of tellurium in indium antimonide semiconductor material by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry

A method for the determination of the dopant concentration of tellurium in dissolved indium antimonide semiconductor material by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry (ETAAS) was developed. Efforts were made to investigate the optimal conditions of the furnace heating program and the effect of palladium modifier on the variation of tellurium and the background absorbance. According to the results obtained, the presence of palladium chemical modifier in the analysis of indium antimonide allowed the successful retention of tellurium in the graphite tube, and the optimum mass of palladium modifier was found to be dependent on the sample matrix concentration. The absorbance profile of tellurium and the background level were significantly improved when a pyrolysis temperature of 1100 degrees C and an atomization temperature of 2200 degrees C were employed in the optimized heating program. With the use of this method, a detection limit of 0.8 microg g(-1) tellurium in indium antimonide could be achieved. The applicability of the proposed method was evaluated by comparison with two independent methods, i.e. slurry sampling-ETAAS and ICP-MS. From the good agreement between the results, it was demonstrated that the proposed method is suitable for the determination of typical dopant concentrations of tellurium in indium antimonide.