Determination of palladium by a new preconcentration method (Mg-W cell)-electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry

A new concentration method for palladium using Mg-W cell-electrodeposition has been developed. The method was combined with electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry (ETAAS) with a tungsten tube atomizer. The detection limit of palladium by this method was 0.37 ng ml^–1 (3 S/N). The severe interferences on the AAS signal of palladium caused by large amounts of Al, Ca, Cu, Fe, K, Na, Pb and Zn were eliminated by the Mg-W cell-electrodeposition method. The method was adapted for the determination of palladium in environmental samples. The recovery of palladium spiked environmental samples was in the range of 102 to 114%. Received: 12 August 1996 / Revised: 16 October 1996 / Accepted: 7 November