Use of lanthanum and sulphuric acid to suppress interferences in the flame photometric determination of calcium m soil extracts

Interference by iron, aluminium and phosphate in the flame photometric determination of calcium in soil extracts is not fully suppressed by lanthanum unless dilute sulphuric acid is also present. The investigation was restricted to the oxy-acetylene flame.     

A method for removal of chloride interference in determination of aluminium by atomic-absorption spectrometry with a graphite furnace

Methods for removal of the chloride interferences in determination of aluminium by atomic-absorption spectrometry with a graphite furnace have been investigated. Two mechanisms of chloride interference have been established. The first arises from co-ordination of the chloride to aluminium. This interference can be removed by preventing the co-ordination. The other is due to co-existing chloride salts remaining until the atomization step. This interference can be removed by volatilizing the chloride or by converting it and/or aluminium chloride into another substance such as the oxides before the atomization step. The tetra-ammonium salt of EDTA is very suitable as an additive to overcome chloride interference because of its ability to co-ordinate aluminium and other cations, and also its effect when heated.     

Determination of calcium in the presence of interfering anions by flame photometry using an oxygen-enriched air-acetylene flame and a displacement method

Summary The interferences due to phosphate, oxalate, sulphate, arsenate, borate, nitrate and perchlorate in the flame photometric determination of calcium can be eliminated by the use of an oxygen-enriched airacetylene flame and the addition of excess sulphate to the sample. A method for the determination of calcium in the presence of these interferences is described and some results (1.0 and 0.5 mmole of Ca/l) are given.

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Flammenphotometrische Calciumbestimmung in Gegenwart störender Anionen mit Hilfe einer Sauerstoff-angereicherten Luft-Acetylen-Flamme und eines Verdrängungsverfahrens

Zusammenfassung Die Störungen durch Phosphat, Oxalat, Sulfat, Arsenat, Borat, Nitrat und Perchlorat konnten durch Verwendung einer Sauerstoff-angereicherten Luft-Acetylen-Flamme und durch Zusatz von überschüssigem Sulfat zur Probe verhindert werden. Eine entsprechende Methode wird beschrieben und einige Ergebnisse (1,0 und 0,5 mMol Ca/l) mitgeteilt.

     

The determination of sodium in pure limestones by atomic absorption spectrophotometry

The determination of sodium in pure limestones by atomic absorption spectrophotometry is described. The interferences of chloride and calcium ions are discussed; chloride affects the dissociation equilibrium, and calcium lowers the evaporation rate of sodium, thus lowering the concentration of free sodium atoms in the flame. The sensitivity achieved with a rather rough apparatus is 0.15 p.p.m. sodium.     

Signal-levelling agents for eliminating the interferences of iron,aluminium, barium and calcium in the determination of lead by flame atomic absorption spectrometry

The interferences of iron, aluminium, barium and calcium on the determination of lead by flame atomic absorption spectrometry are discussed; a titration procedure was used. Ascorbic acid, citric acid, EDTA and nitric acid were used successfully for levelling the interfering effects from the cations.     

Elimination of anionic interference in flame photometric determination of calcium in the presence of phosphate and sulphate

Studies on the interference of phosphate and sulphate in the flame emission of calcium as calcium chloride have shown that there is a fall of intensity corresponding initially to the quantity of the interfering anion, the emission intensity reaching a constant value at a certain ratio of PO₄^-3 or SO₄^-2 to Ca⁺².On addition of appropriate quantities of lanthanum (or iron) to the sample, the intensity of the calcium emission lines is restored to the value it had when the interfering anions were absent.It is postulated that lanthanum replaces calcium in a phosphate- or sulphate-containing compound, that without lanthanum does not form calcium ions even at high temperature.     

Determination of lanthanides and yttrium in rocks and minerals by atomic-absorption and flame-emission spectrometry

The sensitivity of atomic-absorption and flame-emission determination of lanthanides and yttrium is improved by a factor of 2-5 when an absolute ethanol solution of the perchlorate of the metal (instead of an aqueous solution) is aspirated into a nitrous oxide-acetylene flame. Based on this, a method has been developed for accurate determination of small amounts of certain rare earths and yttrium. Lanthanum (1%) is used as a spectroscopic buffer to eliminate interferences and to enhance the sensitivities in certain determinations. Where the use of lanthanum is not practicable because of interferences (such as in the determination of praseodymium and samarium by flame emission), sodium (2000 ppm) is used as the spectroscopic buffer. Studies with synthetic solutions indicate that yttrium and most lanthanides can be directly determined in minerals without any chemical separation. With rock samples it is necessary to preconcentrate the traces of the rare earths by fluoride or oxalate precipitation with calcium as the carrier, followed by removal of calcium by hydroxide precipitation using mg amounts of iron as the carrier. The method developed has been applied to the determination of certain lanthanides and yttrium in a variety of rocks, including the Canadian reference rocks, syenites SY-1, SY-2 and SY-3, and some minerals such as britholite, cenosite, chevkinite, allanite, apatite and sphene.     

微波等离子体炬原子发射光谱法测定铁增敏效应

针对在低功率下工作的微波等离子体炬原子发射光谱法(MPT-AES)存在对一些元素检测灵敏度较低和抗基体干扰能力弱的问题,以氩气为载气和工作气,研究了表面活性剂及镧盐对MPT-AES测定铁的增敏效应,考察了铁测定的工作条件和共存元素对铁测定的影响.实验结果表明,非离子表面活性剂对铁的测定有抑制作用,而阳离子表面活性剂和镧盐对铁的测定有增敏作用,其中镧盐增敏效果最好.以镧盐为增敏剂,不仅可提高MPT-AES测定铁的灵敏度,还可增加共存元素的允许量.当体系中镧浓度为0.500 mg/m L时,至少可使40倍的锌,30倍的钴,20倍的镍、锰,15倍的钙,10倍的镁、铜和钠不影响铁的测定.与不加镧时相比,铁的发射强度提高了2.4倍,检出限由原来的27.5×10~(-3)μg/m L下降为8.5×10~(-3)μg/m L.将本方法应用于原油样品中铁的测定,所得结果与火焰原子吸收光谱法测定结果一致.     

Determination of indium in aluminium alloys by flame atomic-absorption spectroscopy and flame atomic-emission spectrometry

The use of flame atomic-absorption and atomic-emission spectrometry for the determination of indium in aluminium alloys is described. Two types of flame are used: air—acetylene and nitrous oxide—acetylene. The efrect of other ions, especially aluminium, has been studied, and the use of lanthanum as a releasing agent is proposed for both techniques, the amount used depending on the amount of aluminium present.     

A study of some matrix effects in the determination of beryllium by atomic-absorption spectroscopy in the nitrous oxide-acetylene flame

A study has been made of a number of interferences observed in the trace determination of beryllium by atomic-absorption in the nitrous oxide-acetylene flame. The major negative interference caused by the presence of excess of aluminium salts may be overcome by the use of 8-hydroxyquinoline. Magnesium and silicon also depress the Be signal, but most other metals cause enhancement. In most instances the enhancements may be made uniform by the addition of potassium ions to the sample solution.     

Determination of fluoride in sea-water by molecular absorption spectrometry of aluminium monofluoride after removal cation and anion interferences

Three procedures are proposed for the determination of trace levels of fluoride in sea-water, based on the formation of aluminium monofluoride in an electrothermal graphite furnace, followed by measurement of its molecular absorption at 227.45 nm. They involve the use of dilution, a matrix modifier, or a matrix modifier and an ion-exchange resin, and are all acceptably sensitive and specific for fluoride. Interferences from cations and anions are removed by a simple 20-fold dilution of the sample. At 10-fold sample dilution, chloride interference can be removed by adding 0.3M ammonium nitrate together with 0.01M aluminium + 0.01M strontium as a matrix modifier. The same matrix modifier is valid for use with 5-fold sample dilution and a cation-exchange step to avoid matrix affects from cations and chloride. The detection limit is about 8-10 ng/ml fluoride and the determination limit is 20 ng/ml. The precision of peak-height measurement at 0.2 mug/ml is 5-7%.     

The determination of selenium by atom-trapping atomic absorption spectrometry

The application of atom-trapping atomic absorption spectrometry to the determination of selenium has been studied in detail. The optimum experimental parameters were established and the interference of major elements on the determination of selenium was studied using collection on a cold silica tube. The atom-trapping atomic absorption technique gives a detection limit of 0.03 ppm after 2-min collection on silica in an air—acetylene flame. This compares with ca. 1 ppm by the conventional absorption technique at the same 196.1-nm line. Methods to minimize interferences were examined, including the use of a double tube arrangement, an aluminium oxide-coated silica tube and ion-exchange separation. A combination of combustion in an oxygen flask and collection from an air—acetylene flame on the aluminium oxide-coated silica tube yielded satisfactory results in the analysis of four plant tissue samples.     

Extraction-spectrophotometric determination of aluminium in river water with pyrocatechol violet and a quaternary ammonium salt

The simple removal of excess of co-extracted reagent in the solvent extraction of anionic metal complexes with a quaternary ammonium salt greatly improves the determination of aluminium with Pyrocatechol Violet (PV) and zephiramine (tetradecyldimethylbenzylammonium chloride). The exchange equilibrium constants for PV reagent and aluminium complex with four univalent anions (halides and nitrate) were determined when chloroform and 1,2-dichloroethane were used as extracting solvents. The constants were compared with those obtained with Pyrogallol Red. The method with PV and chloroform is suitable for the determination of micro-amounts of aluminium in river water. The apparent molar absorptivity of the aluminium complex in chloroform is 8.9 x 10(4) 1 mol(-1) cm(-1) at 587 nm. The limit of detection and precision achieved with the method are 3 mug l(-1) and within 4% respectively. A large excess of reagent can be used, and the ternary complex can be completely extracted over the pH range 5.5-10. Masking agents allow most interferences to be suppressed.     

Determination of calcium, magnesium and zinc in unused lubricating oils by atomic absorption spectroscopy

Varying concentrations of lanthanum and strontium were added to solutions of ashed unused lubricating oils for the determination of calcium, magnesium and zinc content using flame atomic absorption spectrophotometry. At least 3000 μg g⁻¹ of lanthanum or strontium was required to completely overcome the interference of the phosphate ion, PO³⁻₄, and give peak values for calcium. The presence of lanthanum or strontium did not cause an appreciable increase in the amount of magnesium and zinc obtained from the analyses. The method is fast and reproducible, and the coefficients of variation calculated for the elements using one of the samples were 1.6% for calcium, 3.5% for magnesium and 0.2% for zinc. Results obtained by this method were better than those obtained by other methods for the same samples.     

Atomic absorption spectrometric determination of calcium and other metallic elements in some animal protein sources

The phosphorus content of some animal protein sources was determined in order to identify the sample with the highest phosphorus content for use as a pilot sample. Varying concentrations of strontium and lanthanum were added to solutions of the ashed pilot sample for the determination of calcium and magnesium using flame atomic absorption spectrophotometry operated on the air-acetylene mode. At least 3000 ppm of strontium or lanthanum was required to completely overcome the interference of phosphate ion, PO(4)(3-), and give peak values for calcium. The presence of strontium or lanthanum did not affect the amount of magnesium obtained from the analyses. Based on this, a procedure is proposed and the results obtained by this procedure for calcium are more enhanced than those obtained without the addition of strontium or lanthanum for the same samples whereas comparable results were obtained for all other elements whether strontium or lanthanum was added or not. The method gives more accurate results and is reproducible. The coefficients of variation calculated using one of the samples were 0.58% for magnesium, 3.12% for zinc; 0.44% for calcium, 11.06% for lead, 22.22% for nickel, 3.53% for manganese and 3.50% for iron at the concentration levels found in that sample. Recoveries of spiked calcium, magnesium and zinc were quantitative. Also, for selected elements, results from the procedure compared well with those from chemical analysis.     

Spectroscopy in separated flames--VII: Determination of bismuth by atomic-fluorescence spectroscopy in a separated air-acetylene flame with electronically modulated electrodeless discharge tube sources

The application of electronically modulated and unmodulated bismuth and iodine electrodeless discharge lamps as sources for the excitation of bismuth atomic fluorescence in conventional and nitrogen-separated air-acetylene flames has been investigated. Separation of the flame results in improved detection limits for bismuth even when a modulated source is employed. The effect of 500-fold weight excesses of foreign ions on the determination of bismuth at 302.46 nm with a modulated iodine source and separated flame has been studied; only calcium and zirconium are found to cause significant interference. The determination of bismuth in aluminium alloy samples is reported.     

Elimination of phosphate interference in flame photometric determination of strontium and barium

The interference of phosphate in the flame emission of calcium, strontium and barium was studied. The emission intensity decreases proportionally to the amount of interfering anion up to a maximum depression for equimolar amounts of phosphate to metal. A thermostable phosphate is formed before the cation enters the flame. Appropriate addition of lanthanum restores the three alkaline earth lines to their intensities in absence of phosphate, the lanthanum displacing, the alkaline earths from their phosphates before the hot region of the flame is reached.     

吸收光谱电化学测定铜的研究

West等人^[1-2]首先研究了镉、钴、铬、铜、铁、锰、镍、铅等金属离子和某些有机化合物在铂电极上的吸收光谱电化学特性,并导出定量分析公式,但迄今为止,此法还未用于实际样品分析。本文在以前工作基础上,用原子吸收分光光度计,着重试验了钠、钙、镁、铝等对铜的影响,直接测定了腐蚀剂和氯化钠中的铜,获得了良好的结果。     

Suppression of interferences in the determination of lead in natural and drinking waters by graphite-furnace atomic absorption spectrometry

The problem of matrix interference encountered in the determination of lead in natural and drinking waters by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry is examined by looking at the individual effects of various constituent salts (NaCl, KCl, MgCl₂ and CaCl₂, Na₂SO₄, KH₂PO₄ and Mg(NO₃)₂), of which MgCl₂ and Na₂SO₄ interfered most severely. The use of the L'vov platform decreased the sulphate interference, but was not successful in removing the other interferences. The mixture of 0.05% (w/v) lanthanum (as LaCl₃) and 1% (v/v) nitric acid previously proposed for wall atomisation was found to be effective in controlling the interferences. Nitric acid alone removed almost completely the effects of MgCl₂ and CaCl₂, but had little effect on the interference of sulphate, which required the addition of lanthanum for suppression. The removal of interferences in real water samples by the lanthanum/nitric acid mixture is demonstrated by comparison of results obtained by this approach with those obtained by atomic fluorescence spectrometry and by flame atomic absorption spectrometry after preconcentration by evaporation.