Atomic atomiser

When the aerosol with the sample enters the flame, it is subject to the various stages of the atomisation process evaporation of the solvent (desolvation) and formation of microparticles of inorganic salts, and subsequently the sublimation or evaporation of these salts into molecular fragments, which dissociate into atoms (atomisation). If a component of the sample alters one or more stages of the atomisation compared to the process observed for standards, the absorption signal will be subject to interference and the measurement of the concentration level will be incorrect. 

We have seen that in a metal the atoms are close-packed, i.e. each metal atom is surrounded by a large number of similar atoms (often 12, or 8). The heat required to break up 1 mole of a metal into its constituent atoms is the heat of atomisation or heat of sublimation. Values of this enthalpy vary between about 80 and 800 kJ. for metals in their standard states these values indicate that the bonds between metal atoms can vary from weak to very strong. There is a rough proportionality between the m.p. of a metal and its heat of atomisation. so that the m.p. gives an approximate measure of bond strength. 

A/i the dissociation or bond energy of hydrogen (it is also, by definition, twice the enthalpy of atomisation two gram atoms being produced). 

A more useful quantity for comparison with experiment is the heat of formation, which is defined as the enthalpy change when one mole of a compound is formed from its constituent elements in their standard states. The heat of formation can thus be calculated by subtracting the heats of atomisation of the elements and the atomic ionisation energies from the total energy. Unfortunately, ab initio calculations that do not include electron correlation (which we will discuss in Chapter 3) provide uniformly poor estimates of heats of formation w ith errors in bond dissociation energies of 25-40 kcal/mol, even at the Hartree-Fock limit for diatomic molecules. 

Atomic absorption spectroscopy involves atomising the specimen, often by spraying a solution of the sample into a flame, and then studying the absorption of radiation from an electric lamp producing the spectrum of the element to be determined. 

The use of a plasma as an atomisation source for emission spectroscopy has been developed largely in the last 20 years. As a result, the scope of atomic emission spectroscopy has been considerably enhanced by the application of plasma techniques. 

Although electrothermal atomisation methods can be applied to the determination of arsenic, antimony, and selenium, the alternative approach of hydride generation is often preferred. Compounds of the above three elements may be converted to their volatile hydrides by the use of sodium borohydride as reducing agent. The hydride can then be dissociated into an atomic vapour by the relatively moderate temperatures of an argon-hydrogen flame. 

Catalyst characterization - Characterization of mixed metal oxides was performed by atomic emission spectroscopy with inductively coupled plasma atomisation (ICP-AES) on a CE Instraments Sorptomatic 1990. NH3-TPD was nsed for the characterization of acid site distribntion. SZ (0.3 g) was heated up to 600°C using He (30 ml min ) to remove adsorbed components. Then, the sample was cooled at room temperatnre and satnrated for 2 h with 100 ml min of 8200 ppm NH3 in He as carrier gas. Snbseqnently, the system was flashed with He at a flowrate of 30 ml min for 2 h. The temperatnre was ramped np to 600°C at a rate of 10°C min. A TCD was used to measure the NH3 desorption profile. Textural properties were established from the N2 adsorption isotherm. Snrface area was calcnlated nsing the BET equation and the pore size was calcnlated nsing the BJH method. The resnlts given in Table 33.4 are in good agreement with varions literature data. 

Both emission and absorption spectra are affected in a complex way by variations in atomisation temperature. The means of excitation contributes to the complexity of the spectra. Thermal excitation by flames (1500-3000 K) only results in a limited number of lines and simple spectra. Higher temperatures increase the total atom population of the flame, and thus the sensitivity. With certain elements, however, the increase in atom population is more than offset by the loss of atoms as a result of ionisation. Temperature also determines the relative number of excited and unexcited atoms in a source. The number of unexcited atoms in a typical flame exceeds the number of excited ones by a factor of 103 to 1010 or more. At higher temperatures (up to 10 000 K), in plasmas and electrical discharges, more complex spectra result, owing to the excitation to more and higher levels, and contributions of ionised species. On the other hand, atomic absorption and atomic fluorescence spectrometry, which require excitation by absorption of UV/VIS radiation, mainly involve resonance transitions, and result in very simple spectra. 

Principles and Characteristics Flame emission instruments are similar to flame absorption instruments, except that the flame is the excitation source. Many modem instruments are adaptable for either emission or absorption measurements. Graphite furnaces are in use as excitation sources for AES, giving rise to a technique called electrothermal atomisation atomic emission spectrometry (ETA AES) or graphite furnace atomic emission spectrometry (GFAES). In flame emission spectrometry, the same kind of interferences are encountered as in atomic absorption methods. As flame emission spectra are simple, interferences between overlapping lines occur only occasionally. 

In AFS, the analyte is introduced into an atomiser (flame, plasma, glow discharge, furnace) and excited by monochromatic radiation emitted by a primary source. The latter can be a continuous source (xenon lamp) or a line source (HCL, EDL, or tuned laser). Subsequently, the fluorescence radiation is measured. In the past, AFS has been used for elemental analysis. It has better sensitivity than many atomic absorption techniques, and offers a substantially longer linear range. However, despite these advantages, it has not gained the widespread usage of atomic absorption or emission techniques. The problem in AFS has been to obtain a... 

EDI-CI Electric discharge-induced chemical ionisation ETAAS, ET-AAS Electrothermal (atomisation) atomic absorption spectrometry... 

EDL Electrodeless discharge lamp ETA AES Electrothermal atomisation atomic... 

Electron diffraction spectroscopy ETA LEAFS Electrothermal atomisation laser-excited atomic fluorescence... 

Determination of trace metals in seawater represents one of the most challenging tasks in chemical analysis because the parts per billion (ppb) or sub-ppb levels of analyte are very susceptible to matrix interference from alkali or alkaline-earth metals and their associated counterions. For instance, the alkali metals tend to affect the atomisation and the ionisation equilibrium process in atomic spectroscopy, and the associated counterions such as the chloride ions might be preferentially adsorbed onto the electrode surface to give some undesirable electrochemical side reactions in voltammetric analysis. Thus, most current methods for seawater analysis employ some kind of analyte preconcentration along with matrix rejection techniques. These preconcentration techniques include coprecipitation, solvent extraction, column adsorption, electrodeposition, and Donnan dialysis. 

Bishop [75] determined barium in seawater by direct injection Zeeman-modulated graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry. The V203/Si modifier added to undiluted seawater samples promotes injection, sample drying, graphite tube life, and the elimination of most seawater components in a slow char at 1150-1200 °C. Atomisation is at 2600 °C. Detection is at 553.6 nm and calibration is by peak area. Sensitivity is 0.8 absorbance s/ng (Mo = 5.6 pg 0.0044 absorbance s) at an internal argon flow of 60 ml/min. The detection limit is 2.5 pg barium in a 25 ml sample or 0.5 pg using a 135 ml sample. Precision is 1.2% and accuracy is 23% for natural seawater (5.6-28 xg/l). The method works well in organic-rich seawater matrices and sediment porewaters. 

Soo [96] determined picogram amounts of bismuth in seawater by flameless atomic absorption spectrometry with hydride generation. The bismuth is reduced in solution by sodium borohydride to bismuthine, stripped with helium gas, and collected in situ in a modified carbon rod atomiser. The collected bismuth is subsequently atomised by increasing the atomiser temperature and detected by an atomic absorption spectrophotometer. The absolute detection limit is 3pg of bismuth. The precision of the method is 2.2% for 150 pg and 6.7% for 25 pg of bismuth. Concentrations of bismuth found in the Pacific Ocean ranged from < 0.003-0.085 (dissolved) and 0.13-0.2 ng/1 (total). 

Moffett [179] determined chromium in seawater by Zeeman corrected graphite tube atomisation atomic absorption spectrometry. The chromium is first complexed with a pentan-2,4 dione solution of ammonium 1 pyrrolidine carbodithioc acid, then this complex extracted from the water with a ketonic solvent such as methyl isobutyl ketone, 4-methylpentan-2-one or diisobutyl ketone. 

Yuzefovsky et al. [241] used Cis resin to preconcentrate cobalt from seawater prior to determination at the ppt level by laser-excited atomic fluorescence spectrometry with graphite electrothermal atomiser. 

A hanging mercury drop electrodeposition technique has been used [297] for a carbon filament flameless atomic absorption spectrometric method for the determination of copper in seawater. In this method, copper is transferred to the mercury drop in a simple three-electrode cell (including a counterelectrode) by electrolysis for 30 min at -0.35 V versus the SCE. After electrolysis, the drop is rinsed and transferred directly to a prepositioned water-cooled carbon-filament atomiser, and the mercury is volatilised by heating the filament to 425 °C. Copper is then atomised and determined by atomic absorption. The detection limit is 0.2 pg copper per litre simulated seawater. 

The sensitivity achieved should enable seawater samples to be analysed for molybdenum, because the concentration of molybdenum in seawater is usually 2.1 -18.8 pg/1. The selected temperature of 1700-1850 °C during the charring stage permits separation of the seawater matrix from the analyte prior to atomisation with the Perkin-Elmer Model 603 atomic absorption spectrometer equipped with a heated graphite atomiser (HGA-2100). 

Lee [524] described a method for the determination of nanogram or sub-nan ogram amounts of nickel in seawater. Dissolved nickel is reduced by sodium borohydride to its elemental form, which combines with carbon monoxide to form nickel carbonyl. The nickel carbonyl is stripped from solution by a helium-carbon monoxide mixed gas stream, collected in a liquid nitrogen trap, and atomised in a quartz tube burner of an atomic absorption spectrophotometer. The sensitivity of the method is 0.05 ng of nickel. The precision for 3 ng nickel is about 4%. No interference by other elements is encountered in this technique. 

Huang and Shih [616] used a graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometer with a stabilised platform furnace involving atomisation from a graphite surface pretreated with vanadium to determine down to 24 ppt of zinc in seawater. 

Cimadevilla et al. [691] compared wall, platform, and graphite furnace probe atomisation techniques in electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry for the determination of ig/l levels of silver, cadmium, and lead in seawater. 

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