Absorption spectroscopy limitation

The section on Spectroscopy has been expanded to include ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, fluorescence, Raman spectroscopy, and mass spectroscopy. Retained sections have been thoroughly revised in particular, the tables on electronic emission and atomic absorption spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance, and infrared spectroscopy. Detection limits are listed for the elements when using flame emission, flame atomic absorption, electrothermal atomic absorption, argon ICP, and flame atomic fluorescence. Nuclear magnetic resonance embraces tables for the nuclear properties of the elements, proton chemical shifts and coupling constants, and similar material for carbon-13, boron-11, nitrogen-15, fluorine-19, silicon-29, and phosphorus-31. 

Frequently an analyst must select, from several instruments of different design, the one instrument best suited for a particular analysis. In this section we examine some of the different types of instruments used for molecular absorption spectroscopy, emphasizing their advantages and limitations. Methods of sample introduction are also covered in this section. 

Precision In absorption spectroscopy, precision is limited by indeterminate errors, or instrumental noise, introduced when measuring absorbance. Precision is generally worse with very low absorbances due to the uncertainty of distinguishing a small difference between Pq and and for very high absorbances when Px approaches 0. We might expect, therefore, that precision will vary with transmittance. 

Atomic absorption spectroscopy is more suited to samples where the number of metals is small, because it is essentially a single-element technique. The conventional air—acetylene flame is used for most metals however, elements that form refractory compounds, eg, Al, Si, V, etc, require the hotter nitrous oxide—acetylene flame. The use of a graphite furnace provides detection limits much lower than either of the flames. A cold-vapor-generation technique combined with atomic absorption is considered the most suitable method for mercury analysis (34). 

Atomic absorption spectroscopy is an alternative to the colorimetric method. Arsine is stiU generated but is purged into a heated open-end tube furnace or an argon—hydrogen flame for atomi2ation of the arsenic and measurement. Arsenic can also be measured by direct sample injection into the graphite furnace. The detection limit with the air—acetylene flame is too high to be useful for most water analysis. 

Atomic absorption spectroscopy of VPD solutions (VPD-AAS) and instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) offer similar detection limits for metallic impurities with silicon substrates. The main advantage of TXRF, compared to VPD-AAS, is its multielement capability AAS is a sequential technique that requires a specific lamp to detect each element. Furthermore, the problem of blank values is of little importance with TXRF because no handling of the analytical solution is involved. On the other hand, adequately sensitive detection of sodium is possible only by using VPD-AAS. INAA is basically a bulk analysis technique, while TXRF is sensitive only to the surface. In addition, TXRF is fast, with an typical analysis time of 1000 s turn-around times for INAA are on the order of weeks. Gallium arsenide surfaces can be analyzed neither by AAS nor by INAA. 

Fontaine, A., Dartyge, E., Itie, J. P., Juchs, A., Polian, A., Tolentino, H. and Tourillon, G. Time-Resolved X-Ray Absorption Spectroscopy Using an Energy Dispensive Optics Strengths and Limitations. 151, 179-203 (1989). 

Time-resolved spectroscopic techniques are important and effective tools for mechanistic photochemical studies. The most widely used of these tools, time-resolved UV-VIS absorption spectroscopy, has been applied to a variety of problems since its introduction by Norrish and Porter almost 60 years ago. Although a great deal of information about the reactivity of organic photochemical intermediates (e.g., excited states, radicals, carbenes, and nitrenes) in solution at ambient temperatures has been amassed with this technique, only limited structural information can be extracted from... 

Table 5.5 shows the main characteristics of UV spectrophotometry as applied to polymer/additive analysis. Growing interest in automatic sample processing looks upon spectrophotometry as a convenient detection technique due to the relatively low cost of the equipment and easy and cheap maintenance. The main advantage of UV/VIS spectroscopy is its extreme sensitivity, which permits typical absorption detection limits in solution of 10-5 M (conventional transmission) to 10 7 M (photoacoustic). The use of low concentrations of substrates gives relatively ideal solutions [20]. As UV/VIS spectra of analytes in solution show little fine structure, the technique is of relatively low diagnostic value on the other hand, it is one of the most widely used for quantitative analysis. Absorption of UV/VIS light is quantitatively highly accurate. The simple linear relationship between... 

Horwitz claims that irrespective of the complexity found within various analytical methods the limits of analytical variability can be expressed or summarized by plotting the calculated mean coefficient of variation (CV), expressed as powers of two [ordinate], against the analyte level measured, expressed as powers of 10 [abscissa]. In an analysis of 150 independent Association of Official Analytical Chemists (AOAC) interlaboratory collaborative studies covering numerous methods, such as chromatography, atomic absorption, molecular absorption spectroscopy, spectrophotometry, and bioassay, it appears that the relationship describing the CV of an analytical method and the absolute analyte concentration is independent of the analyte type or the method used for detection. 

Mullins [ 189] has described a procedure for determining the concentrations of dissolved chromium species in seawater. Chromium (III) and chromium (VI) separated by coprecipitation with hydrated iron (III) oxide and total dissolved chromium are determined separately by conversion to chromium (VI), extraction with ammonium pyrrolidine diethyl dithiocarbamate into methyl isobutyl ketone, and determination by atomic absorption spectroscopy. The detection limit is 40 ng/1 Cr. The dissolved chromium not amenable to separation and direct extraction is calculated by difference. In the waters investigated, total concentrations were relatively high, (1-5 pg/1), with chromium (VI) the predominant species in all areas sampled with one exception, where organically bound chromium was the major species. 

In contrast, the coupling of electrochemical and spectroscopic techniques, e.g., electrodeposition of a metal followed by detection by atomic absorption spectrometry, has received limited attention. Wire filaments, graphite rods, pyrolytic graphite tubes, and hanging drop mercury electrodes have been tested [383-394] for electrochemical preconcentration of the analyte to be determined by atomic absorption spectroscopy. However, these ex situ preconcentration methods are often characterised by unavoidable irreproducibility, contaminations arising from handling of the support, and detection limits unsuitable for lead detection at sub-ppb levels. 

Petit [563] has described a method for the determination of tellurium in seawater at picomolar concentrations. Tellurium (VI) was reduced to tellurium (IV) by boiling in 3 M hydrochloric acid. After preconcentration by coprecipitation with magnesium hydroxide, tellurium was reduced to the hydride by sodium borohydrate at 300 °C for 120 seconds, then 257 °C for 12 seconds. The hydride was then measured by atomic absorption spectroscopy. Recovery was 90 - 95% and the detection limit was 0.5 pmol/1. 

Agemian and Chau [55] have described an automated method for the determination of total dissolved mercury in fresh and saline waters by ultraviolet digestion and cold vapour atomic absorption spectroscopy. A flow-through ultraviolet digester is used to carry out photo-oxidation in the automated cold vapour atomic absorption spectrometric system. This removes the chloride interference. Work was carried out to check the ability of the technique to degrade seven particular organomercury compounds. The precision of the method at levels of 0.07 pg/1, 0.28 pg/1, and 0.55 pg/1 Hg was 6.0%, 3.8%, and 1.00%, respectively. The detection limit of the system is 0.02 pg/1. 

As for silicon, secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) is the most widely used profiling analysis technique for deuterium diffusion studies in III-V compounds. Deuterium advantageously replaces hydrogen for lowering the detection limit. The investigations of donor and acceptor neutralization effects have been usually performed through electrical measurements, low temperature photoluminescence, photothermal ionization spectroscopy (PTIS) and infrared absorption spectroscopy. These spectroscopic investigations will be treated in a separated part of this chapter. 

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