Metals, determination atomic absorption spectrometry

Measurement techniques that can be employed for the determination of trace metals include atomic absorption spectrometry, anodic stripping voltammetry, differential pulse cathodic stripping voltammetry, inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry, liquid chromatography of the metal chelates with ultraviolet-visible absorption and, more recently, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. 

For example, the industrial preparation of mineral acids, such as sulfuric, hydrochloric and nitric, inevitably leads to them containing small concentrations of metals as impurities. If the acid is to be used purely as an acid in a simple reaction, the presence of small amounts of metals is probably unimportant. If, however, the acid is to be used to digest a sample for the determination of trace metals by atomic absorption spectrometry, then clearly the presence of metallic impurities in the acid may have a significant effect on the results. For this latter application, high-purity acids that are essentially metal-free are required. 

Z. Fang, J. RdiiCka, and E. H. Hansen, An Efficient Flow-Injection System with On-Line Ion-Exchange Preconcentration for the Determination of Trace Amounts of Heavy Metals by Atomic Absorption Spectrometry. Anal. Chim. Acta, 164 (1984) 23. 

Minamisawa, H., Iwanamia, H., Arai, N., and Okutani, T. 1999. Adsorption behavior of cobalt (II) on chitosan and its determination by tungsten metal furnace atomic absorption spectrometry. Anal. Chim. Acta 378 ... 

Trace metals in sea water are preconcentrated either by coprecipitating with Ee(OH)3 and recovering by dissolving the precipitate or by ion exchange. The concentrations of several trace metals are determined by standard additions using graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry. 

The organic reagents are used extensively for determinations series of elements by different methods of analysis. We carry out the systematical investigation of organic derivatives of hydrazine as a reagent for determinations ion of metals by photometric and extractive-photometric methods or analysis, as well as methods of atomic absorption spectrometry. Series procedure determinations ion of metals in technical and environmental objects have been developed. 

DETERMINATION OF HEAVY METALS IN ATMOSPHERIC PARTICLES (PM 10 PM 2.5) BY ELECTROTHERMAL ATOMIC ABSORPTION SPECTROMETRY... 

The element specificity of atomic absorption spectrometry has also been used in conjunction with gas chromatography to separate and determine organo-metallic compounds of similar chemical composition, e.g. alkyl leads in petroleum here lead is determined by AAS for each compound as it passes from the gas chromatograph.75... 

Cruz, R. B. and Loon, J. C. van "A Critical Study of the Application of Graphite-Furnace Non-Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrometry to the Determination of Trace Base Metals In Complex Heavy-Matrix Sample Solutions". Anal. Chlm. Acta (1974), 72, 231-243. 

Schramel, P. "Determination of Eight Metals In the International Biological Standard by Flameless Atomic Absorption Spectrometry". Anal. Chlm. Acta (1973), 67 69-77. 

Many of the published methods for the determination of metals in seawater are concerned with the determination of a single element. Single-element methods are discussed firstly in Sects. 5.2-5.73. However, much of the published work is concerned not only with the determination of a single element but with the determination of groups of elements (Sect. 5.74). This is particularly so in the case of techniques such as graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry, Zeeman background-corrected atomic absorption spectrometry, and inductively coupled plasma spectrometry. This also applies to other techniques, such as voltammetry, polarography, neutron activation analysis, X-ray fluroescence spectroscopy, and isotope dilution techniques. 

In the determination of cadmium in seawater, for both operational reasons and ease of interpretation of the results it is necessary to separate particulate material from the sample immediately after collection. The dissolved trace metal remaining will usually exist in a variety of states of complexation and possibly also of oxidation. These may respond differently in the method, except where direct analysis is possible with a technique using high-energy excitation, such that there is no discrimination between different states of the metal. The only technique of this type with sufficiently low detection limits is carbon furnace atomic absorption spectrometry, which is subject to interference effects from the large and varying content of dissolved salts. 

Batley and Farrah [ 120] and Gardner and Yates [118] used ozone to decompose organic matter in samples and thus break down metal complexes prior to atomic absorption spectrometry. By this treatment, metal complexes of humic acid and EDTA were broken down in less than 2 min. These observations led Gardner and Yates [ 118 ] to propose the following method for the determination of cadmium in seawater. 

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. 

Statham [448] has optimised a procedure based on chelation with ammonium dithiocarbamate and diethylammonium diethyldithiocarbamate for the preconcentration and separation of dissolved manganese from seawater prior to determination by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry. Freon TF was chosen as solvent because it appears to be much less toxic than other commonly used chlorinated solvents, it is virtually odourless, has a very low solubility in seawater, gives a rapid and complete phase separation, and is readily purified. The concentrations of analyte in the back-extracts are determined by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry. This procedure concentrates the trace metals in the seawater by a factor of 67.3. 

Armannsson [659] has described a procedure involving dithizone extraction and flame atomic absorption spectrometry for the determination of cadmium, zinc, lead, copper, nickel, cobalt, and silver in seawater. In this procedure 500 ml of seawater taken in a plastic container is exposed to a 1000 W mercury arc lamp for 5-15 h to break down metal organic complexes. The solution is adjusted to pH 8, and 10 ml of 0.2% dithizone in chloroform added. The 10 ml of chloroform is run off and after adjustment to pH 9.5 the aqueous phase is extracted with a further 10 ml of dithizone. The combined extracts are washed with 50 ml of dilute ammonia. To the organic phases is added 50 ml of 0.2 M-hydrochloric acid. The phases are separated and the aqueous portion washed with 5 ml of chloroform. The aqueous portion is evaporated to dryness and the residue dissolved in 5 ml of 2 M hydrochloric acid (solution A). Perchloric acid (3 ml) is added to the organic portion, evaporated to dryness, and a further 2 ml of 60% perchloric acid added to ensure that all organic matter has been... 

Fang et al. [661] have described a flow injection system with online ion exchange preconcentration on dual columns for the determination of trace amounts of heavy metal at pg/1 and sub-pg/1 levels by flame atomic absorption spectrometry (Fig. 5.17). The degree of preconcentration ranges from a factor of 50 to 105 for different elements, at a sampling frequency of 60 samples per hour. The detection limits for copper, zinc, lead, and cadmium are 0.07, 0.03, 0.5, and 0.05 pg/1, respectively. Relative standard deviations are 1.2-3.2% at pg/1 levels. The behaviour of the various chelating exchangers used was studied with respect to their preconcentration characteristics, with special emphasis on interferences encountered in the analysis of seawater. 

Rodionova and Ivanov [667] used chelate extraction in the determination of copper, bismuth, lead, cadmium, and zinc in seawater. The metal complexes of diethyl and dithiophosphates are extracted in carbon tetrachloride prior to determination by atomic absorption spectrometry. 

Orren [663] used atomic absorption spectrometry to determine these elements in seawater in both their soluble and insoluble forms. The alkali metals are determined directly, but the other elements are first concentrated by solvent extraction. The particulate matter content is derived by dissolving the membranes used to filter the sample and determine the metals in the resulting solution. For organic standards of known metal content, the efficiency of the technique was almost 100%. 

Cadmium, copper, and silver have been determined by an ammonium pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate chelation, followed by a methyl isobutyl ketone extraction of the metal chelate from the aqueous phase [677], and finally followed by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry. The detection limits of this technique for 1% absorption were 0.03 pmol/1 (copper), 2 nmol/1 (cadmium), and 2 nmol/1 (silver). 

Bruland et al. [122] have shown that seawater samples collected by a variety of clean sampling techniques yielded consistent results for copper, cadmium, zinc, and nickel, which implies that representative uncontaminated samples were obtained. A dithiocarbamate extraction method coupled with atomic absorption spectrometry and flameless graphite furnace electrothermal atomisation is described which is essentially 100% quantitative for each of the four metals studied, has lower blanks and detection Emits, and yields better precision than previously published techniques. A more precise and accurate determination of these metals in seawater at their natural ng/1 concentration levels is therefore possible. Samples analysed by this procedure and by concentration on Chelex 100 showed similar results for cadmium and zinc. Both copper and nickel appeared to be inefficiently removed from seawater by Chelex 100. Comparison of the organic extraction results with other pertinent investigations showed excellent agreement. 

Tominaga et al. [682,683] studied the effect of ascorbic acid on the response of these metals in seawater obtained by graphite-furnace atomic absorption spectrometry from standpoint of variation of peak times and the sensitivity. Matrix interferences from seawater in the determination of lead, magnesium, vanadium, and molybdenum were suppressed by addition of 10% (w/v) ascorbic acid solution to the sample in the furnace. Matrix effects on the determination of cobalt and copper could not be removed in this way. These workers propose a direct method for the determination of lead, manganese, vanadium, and molybdenum in seawater. 

Mykytiuk et al. [184] have described a stable isotope dilution sparksource mass spectrometric method for the determination of cadmium, zinc, copper, nickel, lead, uranium, and iron in seawater, and have compared results with those obtained by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry and inductively coupled plasma emission spectrometry. These workers found that to achieve the required sensitivity it was necessary to preconcentrate elements in the seawater using Chelex 100 [121] followed by evaporation of the desorbed metal concentrate onto a graphite or silver electrode for isotope dilution mass spectrometry. 

Gardner and Yates [26] developed a method for the determination of total dissolved cadmium and lead in estuarine waters. Factors leading to the choice of a method employing extraction by chelating resin, and analysis by carbon furnace atomic absorption spectrometry, are described. To ensure complete extraction of trace metals, inert complexes with humic-like material are decomposed by ozone [27]. The effect of pH on extraction by and elution from chelating resin is discussed, and details of the method were presented. These workers found that at pH 7 only 1-2 minutes treatment with ozone was needed to completely destroy complexing agents such as EDTA and humic acid in the samples. 

Yamamoto et al. [33] have studied the differential determination of heavy metals according to their oxidation states by flameless atomic absorption spectrometry combined with solvent extraction with ammonium pyrrolidinedithio-carbamate or sodium diethyldithio-carbamate. 

Batley [28] examined the techniques available for the in situ electrodeposition of lead and cadmium in estuary water. These included anodic stripping voltammetry at a glass carbon thin film electrode and the hanging drop mercury electrode in the presence of oxygen and in situ electrodeposition on mercury coated graphite tubes. Batley [28] found that in situ deposition of lead and cadmium on a mercury coated tube was the more versatile technique. The mercury film, deposited in the laboratory, is stable on the dried tubes which are used later for field electrodeposition. The deposited metals were then determined by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry, Hasle and Abdullah [29] used differential pulse anodic stripping voltammetry in speciation studies on dissolved copper, lead, and cadmium in coastal sea water. 

Arc/spark emission methods have been widely used for the determination of metals and some non-metals particularly as minor and trace constituents. In recent years, however, the technique has been extensively displaced by atomic absorption spectrometry, and plasma emission methods. Detection limits for many elements are of the order of 1-10 ppm (Table 8.3) and as... 

Flame emission spectrometry is used extensively for the determination of trace metals in solution and in particular the alkali and alkaline earth metals. The most notable applications are the determinations of Na, K, Ca and Mg in body fluids and other biological samples for clinical diagnosis. Simple filter instruments generally provide adequate resolution for this type of analysis. The same elements, together with B, Fe, Cu and Mn, are important constituents of soils and fertilizers and the technique is therefore also useful for the analysis of agricultural materials. Although many other trace metals can be determined in a variety of matrices, there has been a preference for the use of atomic absorption spectrometry because variations in flame temperature are much less critical and spectral interference is negligible. Detection limits for flame emission techniques are comparable to those for atomic absorption, i.e. from < 0.01 to 10 ppm (Table 8.6). Flame emission spectrometry complements atomic absorption spectrometry because it operates most effectively for elements which are easily ionized, whilst atomic absorption methods demand a minimum of ionization (Table 8.7). 

Atomic absorption spectrometry is one of the most widely used techniques for the determination of metals at trace levels in solution. Its popularity as compared with that of flame emission is due to its relative freedom from interferences by inter-element effects and its relative insensitivity to variations in flame temperature. Only for the routine determination of alkali and alkaline earth metals, is flame photometry usually preferred. Over sixty elements can be determined in almost any matrix by atomic absorption. Examples include heavy metals in body fluids, polluted waters, foodstuffs, soft drinks and beer, the analysis of metallurgical and geochemical samples and the determination of many metals in soils, crude oils, petroleum products and plastics. Detection limits generally lie in the range 100-0.1 ppb (Table 8.4) but these can be improved by chemical pre-concentration procedures involving solvent extraction or ion exchange. 

Flame atomic absorption spectrometry has achieved very wide use as a routine method for the determination of trace metals in solution. However, for alkali metals flame photometry has remained popular. Why is this ... 

Klenke et al. [5] described a technique for extraction of humic and fulvic acids from stream sediments and outlined methods for their determination. By means of flame atomic absorption spectrometry, the levels of environmentally important heavy metals (cadmium, copper, chromium, cobalt, nickel and lead) in the fulvic and humic acid extracts were compared with those in the original sediment samples. The pattern distribution of the respective metals in the two cases showed very close agreement, suggesting that the combined extract of humic and fulvic acids could be used as an indicator of the level of heavy metal pollution in flowing waters. 

Once the sample is in solution in the acid and the digest made up to a standard volume the determination of metals is completed by standard procedures such as atomic absorption spectrometry or inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry. 

Determination of Some Trace Metals in Edible Mushrooms Samples Using Atomic Absorption Spectrometry... 

Metal ions such Cu, Cd, and Pb can be preconcentrated from water samples using liquid membranes containing 40% w/w of di-2-ethylhexylphosphoric acid in kerosene diluent in a PTFE support. The liquid membrane can be coupled on-line to an atomic absorption spectrometer and has been shown to be stable for at least 200 h with extraction efficiencies over 80%, and enrichment factors of 15 can be obtained. A liquid membrane has also been used for sample cleanup and enrichment of lead in urine samples prior to determination by atomic absorption spectrometry [100]. The experimental setup for metal enrichment is shown in Fig. 13.4. Lead was enriched 200 times from urine [80] and several metals were enriched 200 times from natural waters [88]. Using hollow fiber... 

Other applications of supported liquid membranes have been related to metal speciation. For example, recently a system for chromium speciation has been developed based on the selective extraction and enrichment of anionic Cr(VI) and cationic Cr(III) species in two SLM units connected in series. Aliquat 336 and DEHPA were used respectively as carriers for the two species and graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry used for final metal determination. With this process, it was possible to determine chromium in its different oxidation states [103]. 

A convenient method is the spectrometric determination of Li in aqueous solution by atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS), using an acetylene flame—the most common technique for this analyte. The instrument has an emission lamp containing Li, and one of the spectral lines of the emission spectrum is chosen, according to the concentration of the sample, as shown in Table 2. The solution is fed by a nebuhzer into the flame and the absorption caused by the Li atoms in the sample is recorded and converted to a concentration aided by a calibration standard. Possible interference can be expected from alkali metal atoms, for example, airborne trace impurities, that ionize in the flame. These effects are canceled by adding 2000 mg of K per hter of sample matrix. The method covers a wide range of concentrations, from trace analysis at about 20 xg L to brines at about 32 g L as summarized in Table 2. Organic samples have to be mineralized and the inorganic residue dissolved in water. The AAS method for determination of Li in biomedical applications has been reviewed . 

Flame atomic absorption spectrometry can be used to determine trace levels of analyte in a wide range of sample types, with the proviso that the sample is first brought into solution. The methods described in Section 1.6 are all applicable to FAAS. Chemical interferences and ionization suppression cause the greatest problems, and steps must be taken to reduce these (e.g. the analysis of sea-water, refractory geological samples or metals). The analysis of oils and organic solvents is relatively easy since these samples actually provide fuel for the flame however, build-up of carbon in the burner slot must be avoided. Most biological samples can be analysed with ease provided that an appropriate digestion method is used which avoids analyte losses. 

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