Wet matrix digestion

Mineral acid dissolution is an important sample preparation process for instrumental analysis, as it liberates element ions into a solution that can be directly introduced into an analytical instrument. For quantitative analysis, most instruments require a solution. 

Successful wet chemical digestions depends on the following influences  

Wet decomposition in open vessels allows large sample sizes and achieves low detection limits, but may give rise to systematic errors due to  

To fully exploit the advantage of nitric acid, pressure decomposition systems have to be used that permit application of HNO3 at temperatures above the boiling point. Temperatures above 300 °C are required for complete digestion of organic materials with HNO3 alone in closed systems. 

Adapted from Welz and Sperling [52]. From B. Welz and M. Sperling, Atomic Absorption Spectrometry, Wiley-VCH, Weinheim (1999). Reproduced by permission of Wiley-VCH. 

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