Kinetic studies on the mechanism of atomization in electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry with and without chemical modifiers

Over the past decade a few methods for determining kinetic data for atom formation from the absorption signal in electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry (ETAAS) have been developed in the author's laboratory. These approaches include improvement to the Smets method, and development of new methods for simultaneous determination of kinetic order and activation energy for atom formation at increasing or constant temperatures. The steady-state approximation and first-order kinetic assumption for atom formation have been avoided during their derivation. One of the most distinct features of these new methods is their suitability for quantitative determination of the kinetic order for atom formation from absorption signals under normal analytical conditions, even for atomization processes with fractional reaction orders and/or with multiple mechanisms. The application of the developed methods to the study of the mechanism of atomization in the graphite-furnace atomizer, with and without chemical modifiers, is reviewed with emphasis on research work in the authors' laboratory.     

Kinetic studies on the mechanism of atomization in electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry with and without chemical modifiers

Over the past decade a few methods for determining kinetic data for atom formation from the absorption signal in electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry (ETAAS) have been developed in the author’s laboratory. These approaches include improvement to the Smets method, and development of new methods for simultaneous determination of kinetic order and activation energy for atom formation at increasing or constant temperatures. The steady-state approximation and first-order kinetic assumption for atom formation have been avoided during their derivation. One of the most distinct features of these new methods is their suitability for quantitative determination of the kinetic order for atom formation from absorption signals under normal analytical conditions, even for atomization processes with fractional reaction orders and/or with multiple mechanisms. The application of the developed methods to the study of the mechanism of atomization in the graphite-furnace atomizer, with and without chemical modifiers, is reviewed with emphasis on research work in the authors’ laboratory.     

Kinetics of indium atomization from different atomizer surfaces in electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry (ETAAS)

The kinetic parameters of indium atomization in electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry (ETAAS) have been determined by a newly proposed method. Effect of the atomizer surface and the palladium modifier on the kinetics of indium atomization has been investigated. The mechanisms of indium atomization seem to be identical for the pyrolytically coated graphite and the uncoated graphite tubes, i.e. the rate-limiting step for the atomization changes from a first order kinetics at lower temperatures into a nearly 1/3 order kinetics at higher temperatures, which may suggest that the analyte moves from a dispersed state to agglomates with increasing temperature. However, for the zirconium coated graphite tube, the atomization of indium is controlled by a single mechanism with the kinetic order of near 2/3 and the activation energy of 186 ± 13 kJ/mol. Relatively weak indium—zirconium carbide interactions and the release of indium from the sphere of molten indium metal on the zirconium coated surface are suggested. In the presence of palladium, a simple mechanism, i.e. the release of indium from the solid solution of the In and the Pd on the pyrolytically coated graphite surface, is proposed to account for the observed first order kinetics and the activation energy of 421 ± 27 kJ/mol.     

Binding energies of small lithium clusters (Li(n)) and hydrogenated lithium clusters (Li(n)H)

Large coupled cluster computations utilizing the Dunning weighted correlation-consistent polarized core-valence (cc-pwCVXZ) hierarchy of basis sets have been conducted, resulting in a panoply of internally consistent geometries and atomization energies for small Li(n) and Li(n)H (n=1-4) clusters. In contrast to previous ab initio results, we predict a monotonic increase in atomization energies per atom with increasing cluster size for lithium clusters, in accordance with the historical Knudsen-effusion measurements of Wu. For hydrogenated lithium clusters, our results support previous theoretical work concerning the relatively low atomization energy per atom for Li(2)H compared to LiH and Li(3)H. The CCSD(T)/cc-pwCVQZ atomization energies for LiH, Li(2)H, Li(3)H, and the most stable isomer of Li(4)H, including zero-point energy corrections, are 55.7, 79.6, 113.0, and 130.6 kcal/mol, respectively. The latter results are not consistent with the most recent experiments of Wu.     

Determination of kinetic parameters for atom formation at constant temperature in graphite furnace atomic absorption spectroscopy

A new method for the simultaneous determination of the kinetic order and activation energy for atom release under isothermal condition in a graphite furnace has been developed. Tungsten wire probe atomization was employed to examine the validity of the present method. By means of this model, the kinetic parameters for the atomization of Bi, Ge, Pb and Mn at constant temperatures were successfully determined. The values of the kinetic order and activation energy were found to be 0.67 ± 0.01 and 302 ± 8 kJ mol⁻¹ for Bi, 1.01 ± 0.08 and 109 ± 2 kJ mol⁻¹ for Ge, 0.46 ± 0.01 and 159 ± 2 kJ mol⁻¹ for Pb and 0.97 ± 0.03 and 372 ± 5 kJ mol⁻¹ for Mn, respectively. The atomization mechanism for these four elements from the tungsten probe surface was also discussed.     

Simulation of atomic absorption signals: A kinetic model with two independent sources

A kinetic model of atomization processes based on the solution of one-dimensional diffusion equation with two independent sources is proposed. One of the sources describes the atomization of atoms from the graphite furnace surface, while another one describes the atom formation inside the walls of the furnace and their subsequent outflow into the analytical zone. This mechanism is used to describe electrothermal atomization of Cu and Ag. The simulations show that the form of atomic absorption signal of Cu is determined to the great extent by the processes of desorption from the graphite surface and diffusion inside the graphite. The tailing of the back edge of absorption profile can be explained by the rather slow diffusion process of copper atoms in the graphite. At the same time, for the atomization of Ag, the process of separation of single atoms from clusters is the limiting process.A new interpretation for the shift of absorbance maximum as the initial mass of Ag increases is proposed.     

Partitioning of atomization energy

The present work provides a technique for partitioning the atomization energy of a molecule into diatomic contributions. The method is largely based on the redistribution of the kinetic energy term in Mayer's energy partitioning and uses free‐atom energies as a reference. The comparison of Mayer's original method, the alternative Ichikawa–Yoshida approach, and the new atomization energy partitioning (AEP) shows that the new approach has advantages in describing trends in diatomic energies in molecules with triple bonds, as well as for hydrogen bonds. The proposed AEP is a viable alternative to Mayer's energy partitioning method. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int. J. Quantum Chem, 2008     

Studies of atomization from a graphite platform in graphite-furnace atomic-absorption spectrometry

A theoretical model has been proposed for the transient characteristics of an atomic-absorption pulse generated by atomization from a graphite platform in a pulse-heated graphite-furnace atomic-absorption spectrometer. The model has been used (with the aid of a computer program) to predict the effects of various factors on analyte atom populations as a function of time. The various factors studied were heating rate, initial temperature of the graphite tube wall, platform mass and thickness, and activation energy for the rate-determining step in the reaction sequence leading to atom formation. The results predicted by the model are in reasonable agreement with the experimental results obtained by using lead as the analyte element.     

Theoretical analysis of atom formation-time curves for HGA-74

A simplified mathematical analysis of atom formation was developed. For this purpose, the atomization process was considered as first order kinetics. Experimental studies were carried out. From the initial portion of experimental curves the Arrhenius-type rate constants, activation energies and frequency factors for atom formation reactions were calculated. The values obtained for activation energy could be attributed to the heat of vaporization of the test element nickel. The rate constants proportionality factors relating absorbance to the amount of metal vapour in the graphite furnace were found to be considerably dependent upon the temperature.     

Electrothermal atomization with a metal micro-tube in atomic absorption spectrometry

The processes of atom formation and dissipation in a molybdenum micro-tube atomizer have been studied to obtain information on the reaction involved. Vapor temperature was found to be close to atomizer surface temperature. Appearance temperatures and activation energies were obtained for Al, Co, Cu, Mn, Pb, Sb, Se, Sn and Te in argon and argon-hydrogen atmospheres. The atom formation processes are divided into two groups : the reduction of the metal oxide followed by the atomization of free metal, and thermal dissociation of the metal oxide. Hydrogen significantly changes atom formation processes for some metals compared to those in pure argon. The dissipation process of atoms from the micro-tube atomizer appears to be purely gas-phase diffusional.     

Molecular dynamics simulation of thin film formation by energetic cluster impact (ECI)

Langevin Molecular Dynamics Simulations have been performed in order to understand thin film formation by impact of energetic clusters. The impact of Mo₁₀₂₄ clusters on a Mo surface is simulated at kinetic energies between 1 and 10 eV per atom. The results are in qualitative agreement with the experiments. Due to the high temperature induced locally at the impact zone, the method can be used to form compact, smooth, and strongly adhering thin films on room temperature substrates.     

Effect of anions on atomization temperatures in furnace atomic-absorption

Atomization temperatures have been measured for silver, cadmium, chromium, copper, nickel, lead, tin and zinc. The effect of various anions on the atomization temperatures of these metals has been examined. Of the anions investigated which were added as acids, only phosphate affected the atomization temperatures. For elements which atomized at a lower temperature than tin, phosphate addition resulted in an increased atomization temperature but those which atomized at a higher temperature than tin were not affected. These observations suggested that there are two mechanisms of atom formation in the graphite furnace. The first involves reduction of the metal oxide by carbon and is applicable only to compounds which can form oxides at temperatures lower than those required for the reduction process to occur. The second mechanism is direct decomposition of the metal compound to give metal atoms and is applicable to compounds of higher thermal stability which decompose at temperatures higher than those required for the reduction process.     

Ionization potentials of small lithium clusters (Lin) and hydrogenated lithium clusters (LinH)

We present accurate ionization potentials (IPs) for small lithium clusters and hydrogenated lithium clusters (n=1-4), computed using coupled-cluster singles and doubles theory augmented with a perturbative correction for connected triple excitations [CCSD(T)] with the correlation-consistent weighted core-valence quadruple-zeta basis set (cc-pwCVQZ). In some cases the full CCSDT method has been used. Comparison of computed binding energies with experiment for the pure cationic lithium clusters reveals excellent agreement, demonstrating that previous discrepancies between computed and experimentally derived atomization energies for the corresponding neutral clusters are due to the use of an inaccurate experimental IP for Li(4). The experimental IP for Li(4) falls 0.43 eV below our theoretical adiabatic value of 4.74 eV, which should be a lower bound to the measured IP. Our recommended zero-point corrected adiabatic IPs for Li, Li(2), Li(3), Li(4), LiH, Li(2)H, Li(3)H, and Li(4)H are 5.39, 5.14, 4.11, 4.74, 7.69, 3.98, 4.69, and 4.05 eV, respectively. Zero-point vibrationally corrected CCSD(T) atomization energies per atom for Li(2) (+), Li(3) (+), Li(4) (+), LiH(+), Li(2)H(+), Li(3)H(+), and Li(4)H(+) are 0.64, 0.96, 0.90, 0.056, 1.62, 1.40, and 1.40 eV, respectively.     

Arrhenius plots for activation energy of atomization in graphite-furnace atomic-absorption spectrometry

Activation energy plots drawn by use of various Arrhenius-type equations for atomization reactions in graphite-furnace atomic-absorption spectrometry (GFAAS) do not give reliable kinetic information about the atomization mechanism of the analyte element beyond a few data-points located near the very beginning of the absorbance signal profile. These plots are non-linear if they are drawn with data points near the maximum of the absorbance signal profile. This paper presents two Arrhenius-type equations which give linear plots over a long range of data-points, and hence reliable values for the activation energy. Also, a simple method is proposed for calculating the activation energy from the data-points anywhere from the initial appearance of the absorbance signal to its maximum. Activation energy values given by these two equations and by the method of calculation are compared with each other and with those given by the commonly used methods. The calculated activation energy values obtained can be used to verify those obtained experimentally. The three proposed methods also provide reliable kinetic information on atom-formation reactions in GFAAS. A mechanism for the atomization of copper, based on the experimentally determined activation energy and reaction order is proposed.     

石墨炉原子吸收分析中锰的原子化过程探讨

本文采用计算机联机技术,测定并计算了锰原子吸收的时间分辨信号,得出在信号的初始几百毫秒为一级反应动力学过程,在升温速率较小的近恒温条件下为零级反应动力学过程。借助探针技术对石墨表面进行X射线光电子能谱(XPS)分析,表明锰在石墨炉中的原子化经过锰的高价氧化态到低价氧化态,最后氧化锰气相分解生成锰原子。     

Radiochemical challenges in the study of endohedral fullerenes and MD simulation

The formation of atom-doped fullerenes has been investigated by using several types of radionuclides produced by nuclear reactions. From the trace of the radioactivities after high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), it was found that formation of endohedral fullerenes (or heterofullerene) with small atoms (Be, Li), noble-gas atoms (Kr, Xe) and 4B–6B elements (Ge, As, Se, Sb, Te etc.) is possible by a recoil process following the nuclear reaction. In order to show the possibility of creating endohedral fullerenes by inserting a foreign atom with a suitably high kinetic energy into C₆₀, we have carried out large-scale ab initio molecular dynamics simulations on the basis of the all-electron mixed-basis approach with atomic orbitals and plane waves for Li, Be, N, O, Na, S, Cl, K, V, Cu, As, Se, Sb, Te, Kr, Xe. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Electrothermal atomization from metallic surfaces: Part 2. Atom formation Processes in the tungsten-tube atomizer

A modified carbon rod atomizer (Varian M-63) is used to study the mechanism of atom formation of Al, Ba, Co, Pb, Ni and V in a tungsten-tube atomizer by a combined thermodynamic—kinetic approach. The atomizer is made from two profiled tungsten strips held in two copper supporting electrodes and forming a cylindrical cavity (5 mm long, 4 mm i.d.). Appearance temperatures and atomization energies are compared with those obtained for a graphite-tube atomizer. The major pathways leading to gaseous atoms are thermal dissociation of the metal oxide (or hydroxide) and reduction of the metal oxide followed by the atomization of free metal, depending on the protecting atmosphere (argon or argon—hydrogen mixture) and analyte.