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.