Comparison of tungsten coil electrothermal vaporization and thermospray sample introduction methods for flame furnace atomic absorption spectrometry

Flame furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (FF-AAS) is a newly developed flame atomic absorption spectrometric technique based on arranging a flame furnace onto the top of the flame burner head. In this fundamental investigation, 25 elements were carefully tested by using either thermospray FF-AAS or tungsten coil electrothermal vaporization FF-AAS, of which 15 volatile and semi-volatile elements (Cd, Tl, Ag, Pb, Zn, Hg, Cu, Sb, Bi, Te, In, As. Se, Sn and Au) exhibited better limits of detection compared to those by conventional FAAS: however, non-volatile or refractory elements (Fe. Co, Ni, Cr, Mn, Pd, Pt, Al, Be and V) showed inferior sensitivities by the proposed methods. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.