Atomic absorption determination of Cd, Co, Cu, Fe, Ni in viscous aqueous solutions of poly(ethyleneimine) using a high-pressure flow and nebulization system for sample introduction

Summary The influence of increasing concentration of water-soluble polymers on the analytical signals for Cd, Co, Cu, Fe, Ni in flame atomic absorption spectrometry with hydraulic high-pressure nebulization (HHPN) and pneumatic nebulization (self uptake mode) has been studied using aqueous solutions of poly(ethyleneimine) (PEI) as examples. For a solution of 50 g/l polymer, HHPN sample introduction leads to a 5.0 (Cd), 8.8 (Co), 17 (Cu), 7.1 (Fe) and 22 (Ni) fold higher sensitivity compared to pneumatic nebulization. Even at polymer concentrations of more than 100 g/l HHPN operation is still possible without any problems, whilst such viscous solutions cannot be transferred into an aerosol by a pneumatic nebulizer.