Atoms background

ETAAS. In ETAAS atomization takes place in an electrothermal atomizer which is heated to the appropriate temperature programme. The detection limits of the method are about two or three orders of magnitude better than FAAS. It is applicable to about 40 elements but generally for about 20 elements detection limits at the ng and pg level can be reached. Commensurable or better sensitivities have only INAA, ICP-MS and stripping voltammetry. Therefore ETAAS is widely used for environmental analysis. However the method suffers from serious interferences leading to systematic errors due to thermochemical processes in the atomizer. Background absorption is also a potential source for systematic errors. Spectral interferences are additive and cannot be corrected by the popular standard addition method. ETAAS is also not free of memory effects for refractory elements. 

FHT shot noise induced by dark current, atomizer background emission, or Scimple matrix emission. 

Atomizer background intensity fluctuations induced by atomizer gases, sample matrix components, or contamination. 

The optics are generally moderately complex and of a double-beam design using modulated lamps with a chopper to measure all signals needed to calculate absorbances while accounting for lamp drift, emission from the atomizer, background absorbance/scat-ter, and any drift or dark current in the detector. 

To realize these important advantages, it is necessary that the output of the source be free of contaminating lines from other elements in addition, the atomizer should emit no significant background radiation. In some instances with electrothermal atomizers, background radiation is minimal, but certainly, it is not with typical flames. To overcome this problem, filters, located between the source and detector, have often been used to remove most of the background radiation. Alternatively, solar-blind photomultipliers, which respond only to radiation of wavelengths shorter than 320 nm. have been applied. For these devices to be used effectively, analyte emission must be below 320 nm. , ... 

The detection limits in the table correspond generally to the concentration of an element required to give a net signal equal to three times the standard deviation of the noise (background) in accordance with lUPAC recommendations. Detection limits can be confusing when steady-state techniques such as flame atomic emission or absorption, and plasma atomic emission or fluorescence, which... 

When the identity of the matrix interference is unknown, or when it is impossible to adjust the flame to eliminate the interference, then other means must be used to compensate for the background interference. Several methods have been developed to compensate for matrix interferences, and most atomic absorption spectrophotometers include one or more of these methods. 

Other methods of background correction have been developed, including Zee-man effect background correction and Smith-Iiieffje background correction, both of which are included in some commercially available atomic absorption spectrophotometers. Further details about these methods can be found in several of the suggested readings listed at the end of the chapter. 

M HNO3. The concentration of Cu and Zn in the diluted supernatant is determined by atomic absorption spectroscopy using an air-acetylene flame and external standards. Copper is analyzed at a wavelength of 324.8 nm with a slit width of 0.5 nm, and zinc is analyzed at 213.9 nm with a slit width of 1.0 nm. Background correction is used for zinc. Results are reported as micrograms of Cu or Zn per gram of FFDT. 

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