Determination of Al, Cu, Li and Mn in spruce seeds and plant reference materials by slurry sampling graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry

An ultrasonic slurry sampling graphite furnace AAS method was developed for the determination of Al, Cu, Li and Mn in spruce seeds, NBS SRM 1575 pine needles and GBW CRM 07602 bush branches and leaves. The only sample preparation was grinding in a Mixer Mill before preparing a slurry by adding 0.14 mol/L nitric acid to a small sample aliquot. Cryogenic grinding was used for the spruce seeds to solve the problem of agglomerating during grinding at room temperature. A modified sample tray was applied allowing the use of both the commercial 1.5 mL vials and home-made 15 mL vials. With optimal conditions for ultrasonic agitation the homogeneity and particle size distributions in the slurries prepared in the two different vials were similar. Several aspects of the slurry sampling approach are discussed and data of important parameters are given, including the total number of particles injected into the graphite furnace, densities of the materials and percentage of analyte extracted into the liquid phase of the slurry. The density of the materials was determined by two methods; by using a Coulter particle analyser and by using a gravimetric method. The two methods gave similar accuracy and precision. The concentration ranges of the elements (in microg g(-1)) were: 80-2100 for Al, 3-15 for Cu, 0.06-2.5 for Li and 50-700 for Mn. External calibration with aqueous standards was employed. Chemical modifiers were not found to be necessary. The relative standard deviations were in the range 1.7-7%. Analyses of the two certified plant reference materials confirmed the accuracy of the method. In addition no significant difference was found for analyses of digested and slurried spruce seeds. The detection limit was 10 ng g(-1) for Li and 170 ng g(-1) for Cu. The characteristic mass (area measurements) was 4.4 pg for Li and 11 pg for Cu. For Al and Mn less sensitive wavelengths were used.     

Determination of trace impurities in titanium dioxide by slurry sampling electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry

A slurry sampling electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry method for the determination of Al, Ca, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, K, Li, Mg, Mn, Na, Ni, Pb, Sr, Tl and Zn in powdered titanium dioxide is described. The behaviour of the titanium matrix in the atomizer and its interferences with the determination of Al, Fe, Co, Ni and Mn were studied. A tungsten carbide modified graphite tube was used to improve the signal shape and the repeatability for the determination of Fe. For all elements, except for Cd and Pb, quantification by a calibration curve established with aqueous standards was possible. No chemical modifier was used throughout in order to minimize contamination. For the contamination risk elements such as Ca, Fe, K, Mg, Na and Zn, the slurry sampling technique allows to achieve limits of detection (3σ of the blank) 5–20 times lower than the solution technique, resulting for these elements in values of 1, 3, 0.5, 0.5, 0.9 and 2 ng g⁻¹, respectively, and, generally being in the range of 0.2 ng g⁻¹ (Cd) to 10 ng g⁻¹ (Al and Tl). The results obtained by the slurry sampling technique are compared with those of other independent methods including four solution methods and neutron activation analysis.     

Direct determination of silicon in powdered aluminium oxide by use of slurry sampling with in situ fusion graphite-furnace atomic-absorption spectrometry

A direct method for determination of silicon in powdered high-purity aluminium oxide samples, by slurry sampling with in situ fusion graphite-furnace atomic-absorption spectrometry (GF-AAS), has been established. A slurry sample was prepared by 10-min ultrasonication of a powdered sample in an aqueous solution containing both sodium carbonate and boric acid as a mixed flux. An appropriate portion of the slurry was introduced into a pyrolytic graphite furnace equipped with a platform. Silicon compounds to be determined and aluminium oxide were fused by the in situ fusion process with the flux in the furnace under optimized heating conditions, and the silicon absorbance was then measured directly. The calibration curve was prepared by use of a silicon standard solution containing the same concentration of the flux as the slurry sample. The accuracy of the proposed method was confirmed by analysis of certified reference materials. The proposed method gave statistically accurate values at the 95% confidence level. The detection limit was 3.3 μg g^–1 in solid samples, when 300 mg/20 mL slurry was prepared and a 10 μL portion of the slurry was measured. The precision of the determination (RSD for more than four separate determinations) was 14% and 2%, respectively, for levels of 10 and 100 μg g^–1 silicon in aluminium oxide.     

Determination of aluminium in silicon by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry

The sample is decomposed with hydrofluoric and nitric acids and the diluted solution is injected into the graphite furnace. For a 100-mg sample, the detection limit (3 σ) is 1.2 μg AI g^-1. The coefficient of variation is 3–13% for 9–7000 μg Al g^-1 in silicon.     

Direct determination of Cu,Mn, Pb,and Zn in beer by thermospray flame furnace atomic absorption spectrometry

In this work, thermospray flame furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (TS-FF-AAS) was employed for Cu, Mn, Pb, and Zn determination in beer without any sample digestion. The system was optimized and calibration was based on the analyte addition technique. A sample volume of 300 μl was introduced into the hot Ni tube at a flow-rate of 0.4 ml min⁻¹ using 0.14 mol l⁻¹ nitric acid solution or air as carrier. Different Brazilian beers were directly analyzed after ultrasonic degasification. Results were compared with those obtained by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GFAAS). The detection limits obtained for Cu, Mn, Pb, and Zn in aqueous solution were 2.2, 18, 1.6, and 0.9 μg l⁻¹, respectively. The relative standard deviations varied from 2.7% to 7.3% (n=8) for solutions containing the analytes in the 25–50 μg l⁻¹ range. The concentration ranges obtained for analytes in beer samples were: Cu: 38.0–155 μg l⁻¹; Mn: 110–348 μg l⁻¹, Pb: 13.0–32.9 μg l⁻¹, and Zn: 52.7–226 μg l⁻¹. Results obtained by TS-FF-AAS and GFAAS were in agreement at a 95% confidence level. The proposed method is fast and simple, since sample digestion is not required and sensitivity can be improved without using expensive devices. The TS-FF-AAS presented suitable sensitivity for determination of Cu, Mn, Pb, and Zn in the quality control of a brewery.     

Transport efficiencies and analytical determinations with electrothermal vaporization employing electrostatic precipitation and electrothermal atomic spectroscopy

Analyte transport efficiencies of solid as well as liquid samples were determined for electrothermal vaporization (ETV). A graphite furnace of the boat-in-tube type was employed for ETV. The generated aerosol was transported by an argon flow via a tubing into an external precipitator and deposited on a L’vov platform with a corona-like discharge. The sample on the secondary platform was analysed with a laboratory-constructed coherent forward scattering multielement spectrometer. For determining the analyte transport efficiencies, the comparative measurements were carried out with standard solutions dosed directly on the platform in the spectrometer furnace. The simultaneously investigated elements were Cu, Fe and Mn in the standard reference material BCR CRM 189 wholemeal flour and in a multielement standard solution containing approximately the same element ratio as certified for the solid sample. ETV boat-to-L’vov platform transport efficiencies of approximately 19% for Cu, 24% for Fe and 19% for Mn were calculated for both solid samples and multielement standard solutions. Cu, Fe and Mn in wholemeal flour were determined simultaneously by calibrating against aqueous multielement standard solutions injected into the boat as well as by the standard addition method. The results agree satisfactorily, the deviations from the certified values are below 10% and the relative standard deviations are typically 5–8%. The limits of detection are 250 pg for Cu (λ=324.8 nm), 230 pg for Fe (λ=248.3 nm) and 90 pg for Mn (λ=279.8 nm), loaded into the ETV boat.     

Analysis of standard reference materials after microwave-oven digestion in open vessels using graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrophotometry and Zeeman-effect background correction

Summary Heating-covered teflon digestion vials located inside a reheatable container in the presence of different acid mixtures with microwave oven dissolve the metals from biological and environmental certified reference materials. Pb, Cd, Cu, Mn and Fe from the dissolved samples are determined by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrophotometry and Zeeman-effect background correction. The method allows the treatment of about 100 samples per operation.     

Determination of thorium and uranium in activated concrete by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry after anion-exchange separation

A sensitive analytical method was established for the determination of Th and U in activated concrete samples. The method combines an anion-exchange separation step with an ICP-MS determination technique. In the ICP-MS measurement, a few μg mL^–1 of Al and Ca, a few ng mL^–1 of Mn, La, Ce, Nd and Pb and pg mL^–1 amounts of Li, Zr, Nb and Ba coexisting in the anion-exchange fraction of Th and U did not interfere. No adverse interference effects were observed in real sample analyses. The obtained detection limits (3σ, n = 10) of Th and U were 2.3 and 1.8 pg mL^–1, respectively. The analytical precisions for ca. 5 μg g^–1 Th and ca. 1 μg g^–1 U in real activated concrete samples were equally less than 7% RSD. The accuracies obtained by the analysis of GSJ rock standard samples were –18.1 to 0.4% for the Th determination and –14.0 to –5.7% for the U determination. The method uses the conventional absolute calibration curve. The internal standard calibration is unnecessary.     

Method development for the determination of cadmium,copper, lead,selenium and thallium in sediments by slurry sampling electrothermal vaporization inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and isotopic dilution calibration

A procedure for the determination of Cd, Cu, Pb, Se and Tl by slurry sampling electrothermal vaporization inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ETV-ICP-MS) with calibration by isotopic dilution is proposed. The slurry is prepared by mixing the sample with diluted nitric and hydrofluoric acids in an ultrasonic bath and then in a water bath at 60 °C for 120 min. The slurries were let to stand at least for 12 h, manually shaken before poured into the autosampler cups and homogenized by passing through an argon flow, just before pipetting it into the furnace. The analytes were determined in two groups, according to their thermal behaviors. The furnace temperature program was optimized and the selected compromised pyrolysis temperatures were: 400 °C for Cd, Se and Tl and 700 °C for Cu and Pb. The vaporization temperature was 2300 °C. The analyses were carried out without modifier as no significant effect was observed for different tested modifiers. Different sample particle sizes did not affect the sensitivity significantly, then a particle size ≤50 μm was adopted. The accuracy was checked by analyzing five certified reference sediments, with analytes concentrations from sub-μg g⁻¹ to a few hundreds μg g⁻¹. The great majority of the obtained concentrations were in agreement with the certified values. The detection limits, determined for the MESS-2 certified sediment, were, in μg g⁻¹: 0.01 for Cd; 0.8 for Cu; 0.4 for Pb; 0.4 for Se and 0.06 for Tl. The precision was adequate with relative standard deviations lower than 12%. Isotopic dilution showed to be an efficient calibration technique for slurry, as the extraction of the analyte to the liquid phase of the slurry and the reactions in the vaporizer must help the equilibration between the added isotope and the isotope in the sample.     

Determination of tin and lead in sediment slurries by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry

Methods were determined for lead and tin determinations in river, marine and lake sediments by slurry sampling and graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry. The optimizations were carried out using River Sediment BCR 320 and Marine Sediment PACS-2 for Pb and Sn, respectively. For Pb determination, the parameters studied included inorganic acid mixture, stabilizing agent, sample mass and sonication time. The influence of diluents and the extraction to the liquid phase for two different matrices was evaluated for Sn. The Pb content in the slurry liquid phase was ca. 56%, and ranged from 75% to 100% for Sn. Representative masses of 34 and 45 mg, and effective masses of 12 and 48 μg for Pb and Sn, respectively, were obtained under optimized conditions. Detection and quantification limits of 0.2 and 0.7 μg g⁻¹ for Pb, and 1.5–2.6 and 4.5–7.6 μg g⁻¹ for Sn were obtained.

     

Study of a microwave induced argon plasma sustained in a TE101 cavity as spectrochemical emission source coupled with graphite furnace evaporation

The argon MIP sustained in a TE₁₀₁ cavity has been evaluated as a spectrochemical radiation source and its analytical performance in combination with graphite furnace evaporation has been studied. A quartz discharge tube with a side arm is used, through which the sample vapour from the furnace is introduced by the carrier gas. A stable quasi-toroidal rotating plasma with a central channel could be maintained within a wide range of operating conditions. Under the compromise conditions established, the detection limits for Ag, As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb and Tl are 4, 120, 8, 305, 47, 24, 55, 11, 220, 56 and 28 pg, respectively. The presence of Na results in line intensity enhancements in most cases, which are proportional to the Na amount in the range of 60 ng to 10 μg. By the addition of microgram amounts of Pd, acting partly as a chemical modifier in the furnace and eventually as a buffer in the plasma, the matrix effect caused by Na could be eliminated or largely reduced. The present system has been applied to the determination of 16–800 μg/g amounts of Cu, Fe and Mn in a certified tea sample, and 0.35–71 μg/g amounts of Ag, Cu, Fe, Mn and Pb in a certified human hair sample.     

Determination of trace impurities in boron nitride by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry and electrothermal vaporization inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry using solid sampling

Two digestion-free methods for trace analysis of boron nitride based on graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GFAAS) and electrothermal vaporization inductively coupled plasma spectrometry optical emission (ETV-ICP-OES) using direct solid sampling have been developed and applied to the determination of Al, Ca, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn, Si, Ti and Zr in four boron nitride materials in concentration intervals of 1–23, 54–735, 0.05–21, 0.005–1.3, 1.6–112, 4.5–20, 0.03–1.8, 6–46, 38–170 and 0.4–2.3 μg g^− 1, respectively. At optimized experimental conditions, with both methods, effective in-situ analyte/matrix separation was achieved and calibration could be performed using calibration curves measured with aqueous standard solutions. In solid sampling GFAAS, before sampling, the platform was covered with graphite powder and, for determination of Si, also the Pd/Mg(NO₃)₂ modifier was used. In the determination of all analyte elements by solid sampling ETV-ICP-OES, Freon R12 was added to argon carrier gas. For solid sampling GFAAS and ETV-ICP-OES, the achievable limits of detection were within 5 (Cu)–130 (Si) ng g^− 1 and 8 (Cu)–200 (Si) ng g^− 1, respectively. The results obtained by these two methods for four boron nitride materials of different purity grades are compared each with the other and with those obtained in analysis of digests by ICP-OES. The performance of the two solid sampling methods is compared and discussed.     

Determination of mercury in mineral coal using cold vapor generation directly from slurries,trapping in a graphite tube,and electrothermal atomization

A rugged and reliable method for the determination of mercury in coal without sample digestion, based on chemical vapor generation (cold vapor technique) from slurried coal samples has been developed. It involves collection of the mercury vapor in a graphite tube, treated with gold or rhodium as permanent modifier, and determination by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry. Mercury quantitatively leached out of the investigated coal reference materials into 1 mol l⁻¹ nitric acid within 48 h when the coal was ground to a particle size of ≤50 μm, except for one sample (BCR 180), which had to be ground to ≤30 μm, or a leaching time of 72 h had to be used. No detectable quantity of mercury was generated directly from the slurry particles, but it was not necessary to filter the solution. The greatest advantage of the method is that only a minimum of reagents and sample handling steps are required, a prerequisite for accurate results in routine analysis. The results were well within the 95% confidence level of the certificate or close to the information value of the reference materials investigated. The characteristic mass of 110 pg obtained with gold as the permanent modifier is close to values reported for direct analysis of solutions, showing close to 100% trapping efficiency for mercury. A limit of detection (LOD) of 90 pg absolute was obtained with this modifier, which corresponds to an LOD of 0.009 μg g⁻¹ Hg in coal. This is based on 1 ml of slurry containing 10 mg of coal, and is an order of magnitude lower than the lowest mercury content in the investigated reference materials.     

A simple and fast procedure for the determination of Al, Cu, Fe and Mn in biodiesel using high-resolution continuum source electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry

A procedure for the determination of Al, Cu, Fe and Mn in biodiesel samples by high resolution continuum source electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry is proposed. Sample preparation consists in simply diluting the biodiesel samples with ethanol at room temperature. For Al determination, a Zr-treated graphite tube was used as permanent modifier; for the other analytes no modifier was required. Calibration was carried out against aqueous standards, except for Al, for which calibration solutions were prepared using ethanol. Accuracy was verified by means of recovery tests and comparison with the results obtained using a different analytical procedure. The precision, expressed as the relative standard deviation, was typically better than 7%. Detection limits at ng g⁻¹ levels for all analytes were obtained. The concentration of the analytes in biodiesel samples was generally very low, around a few tens of ng g⁻¹, except for two samples for which the Fe concentrations were in the μg g⁻¹ level. The proposed method has proved to be simple, precise and accurate.     

Vapor phase matrix extraction of high purity di-boron trioxide and trace analysis using electrothermal AAS

A method has been developed for the determination of Al, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn, Ni, Sb, Sn and Zn at trace levels in high purity di-boron trioxide using ETAAS. The boron trioxide matrix was eliminated as trimethyl borate ester in a multiplex vapor phase matrix extraction (MVPME) device using a mixture of glycerol and methanol. In this MVPME device, in situ reagent purification, sample digestion and simultaneous matrix elimination were achieved by a single step in closed condition, which in combined effect reduce the process blanks. The matrix extraction procedure allows determination of trace elemental impurities by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry (ETAAS) with fast furnace analysis (without an ashing step and modifier) and calibration against aqueous standards. The performance and accuracy of the vapor phase matrix elimination technique are compared to those of suprapur grade hydrofluoric acid solution in two ways; (i) matrix separation as BF₃ over hot plate and (ii) in situ matrix elimination inside graphite furnaces. The method detection limits calculated from blank samples are in the range of 0.5 (Ni) and 2.9 (Al) ng g⁻¹. Thus the MVPME-based sample preparation approach is well suited for the trace analysis of high purity di-boron trioxide used in microelectronics applications.     

Determination of total tin in silicate rocks by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry

A method is described for the determination of total tin in silicate rocks utilizing a graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometer with a stabilized-temperature platform furnace and Zeeman-effect background correction. The sample is decomposed by lithium metaborate fusion (3 + 1) in graphite crucibles with the melt being dissolved in 7.5% hydrochloric acid. Tin extractions (4 + 1 or 8 + 1) are executed on portions of the acid solutions using a 4% solution of trioctylphosphine oxide in methyl isobutyl ketone (MIBK). Ascorbic acid is added as a reducing agent prior to extraction. A solution of diammonium hydrogenphosphate and magnesium nitrate is used as a matrix modifier in the graphite furnace determination. The limit of detection is > 10 pg, equivalent to > 1 μg l^?1 of tin in the MIBK solution or 0.2–0.3 μg g^?1 in the rock. The concentration range is linear between 2.5 and 500 μg l^?1 tin in solution. The precision, measured as relative standard deviation, is < 20% at the 2.5 μg l^?1 level and < 7% at the 10–30 μg l^?1 level of tin. Excellent agreement with recommended literature values was found when the method was applied to the international silicate rock standards BCR-1, PCC-1, GSP-1, AGV-1, STM-1, JGb-1 and Mica-Fe. Application was made to the determination of tin in geological core samples with total tin concentrations of the order of 1 μg g^?1 or less.     

Determination of lead, copper and manganese by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry after separation/concentration using a water-soluble polymer

In this study, a water-soluble polymer, polyvinylpyrrolidinone (PVP) having chelating functionalities was used for the preconcentration and separation of traces of Pb, Cu, Ve and Mn prior to their determination by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry. For this purpose, the sample and the PVP solutions were mixed and the metal bound polymer was precipitated by adding the mixture onto acetone. The precipitate was separated by decantation and dissolved with water. By increasing the ratio of the volumes of sample to water used in dissolving the precipitate, the analyte elements were concentrated as needed. The concentration of trace elements was determined using graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry. The analyte elements in matrix free aqueous solutions were quantitatively recovered. The validity of the proposed method was checked with a standard reference material (NIST SRM 1577b bovine liver) and spiked fruit juice, sea water and mineral water samples. The analytical results were found to be in good agreement with certified and added values. Detection limits (3δ) were 1.7, 3.6 and 4.1 μg l⁻¹ for Pb, Cu and Mn, respectively, using 10 μl of sample volume. The method is novel and can be characterized by rapidity, simplicity, quantitative recovery and high reproducibility.     

Flow Injection Semi-online Preconcentration Graphite Furnace Atomic Absorption Spectrometry for Determination of Cadmium, Copper and Manganese

IntroductionGraphite furnace atomic absorption spectrome-try (GFAAS) is one of the most sensitive tech-niques for the determination of various elementswith detection limits in the range ofμg/ L to ng/ L.Despite the impressive detection power of the tech-nique,GFAAS can tbe routinely used to make di-rect analysis of some real samples with complexcomposition[1] . This is due to the matrix interfer-ence and/ or insufficient detection power. Conse-quently,separation and preconcentration proc…     

The use of electrothermal vaporization ICP-OES for the determination of trace elements in human hair using slurry sampling and PTFE as modifier

A procedure for the determination of trace elements in human hair has been proposed by electrothermal vaporization inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ETV-ICP-OES) with slurry sampling. Slurry was prepared by immersing human hair with conc. HNO₃ and then adding a polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) slurry, which was used as a chemical modifier for the improvement of vaporization characteristic of analyte. The slurry was homogenized with an ultrasonic vibrator before the measurement. The vaporization behaviour of the analytes in slurry and solution and the main influence factors for the determination were studied with the addition of PTFE systematically. Detection limits for this method varied from 0.033?µg?g^?1 (Cu) to 3.21?µg?g^?1 (Zn) with the relative standard deviations (RSDs) of 2.8–7.1%. The proposed method was successfully applied for the determination of trace elements (Cu, Mn, Cr, Fe, Zn, Cd and Pb) in human hair with minimum chemical pretreatment and aqueous calibration. The accuracy was checked by comparing the results of this method with those using pneumatic nebulization (PN) ICP-OES after a conventional acid decomposition of the same sample. In addition, the standard reference material of human hair (GBW 07601) was analysed with good agreement between the results from the proposed method and the certified values.     

Systematic investigations of the multi-element preconcentration from copper by precipitation of the matrix as copper(I) oxide and copper(I) thiocyanate

Two methods for multi-element preconcentration from copper by reductive matrix precipitation are presented. In systematic investigations on the coprecipitation behaviour of Ag, Al, Au, Bi, Cd, Co, Cr, Fe, Ga, In, Mn, Mo, NJ, Pb, Sb, Se, Sn, Te and Zn during precipitation of the copper matrix as Cu₂O or CuSCN, the separation parameters were optimized. By combination with a hexamethyleneammonium hexamethylenedithiocarbamate collector precipitation, a concentration of 8 elements (Cu₂O precipitation) or 13 elements (CuSCN precipitation) in a small volume was achieved. The limits of detection of the procedures are, depending on the element, 0.1–5 μg g^?1 for flame atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS) and 0.01–0.1 μg g^?1 for graphite furnace AAS. The relative standard deviations are about 3%. The analytical performance of the procedures is compared with that of an electrolytic copper separation.