Determination of bismuth in metallurgical materials using a quartz tube atomizer with tungsten coil and flow injection-hydride-generation atomic absorption spectrometry

A method, for the determination of bismuth in metallurgical materials using hydride generation coupled with. a merging zones flow system and atomic absorption spectrometry using a quartz tube atomizer with tungsten coil is proposed. The parameters related to the bismuthine generation, the flow injection system and the use of a tungsten coil were studied and the optimized system shows a wide calibration range and good stability over time, without losses in sensitivity. The analytical curve is linear from 10 to 750 mug 1(-1) of Bi with R greater than or equal to 0.999. A detection limit of 1.9 ng Bi and an analytical frequency of 60 determinations per hour were obtained. Five metallurgical reference materials were analyzed with the proposed method after their acid dissolution. The results obtained were in good agreement with certified or recommended values, and the relative standard deviations were lower than 5%. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.