Pre-concentration of traces of tin by coprecipitation with yttrium hydroxide for electrothermal atomisation atomic absorption spectrometry

Summary Trace amounts of tin were concentrated by coprecipitation and determined by electrothermal atomisation atomic absorption spectrometry. Yttrium hydroxide coprecipitated quantitatively 0.1–3 g of tin from 50–500 ml of sample solution at pH 9.5–11.2. The atomic absorbance of tin increased about twice by using an impregnated graphite tube with yttrium. The impregnated graphite tube, furthermore, improved the reproducibility of the measurement of tin. A linear calibration graph was obtained in the range of 0.004–0.12 g/ml of tin. Twenty-three foreign ions did not interfere seriously. The method was applicable to the determination of tin in zinc metal.