Abstract
Liquid chromatographs, coupled with graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometers, have been widely used for the identification and quantification of trace element compounds. The quantification of the discontinuous signals from the spectrometer defining a chromatographic band is very much a matter of judgement and therefore prone to error. This paper describes a system which links a high-performance liquid chromatograph via a ‘Brinckman’ flowthrough cup to a Hitachi Zeeman graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometer equipped with an autosampler. The introduction of aliquots from the column effluent and the analysis sequence is computer-controlled through a home-built interface. The signals from the spectrometer are passed through an analoguedigital converter and processed by selectable algorithms. The software offers a variety of options for processing the chromatographic data, such as data smoothing, Gaussian or spline interpolation, and trapezium or Simpson integration. This system was used to separate and determine selenite and selenate in aqueous solution with absolute detection limits (3 σ) of 23 ng Se for selenite and 16 ng Se for selenate. This system can be adapted to other spectrometers, provided that the required connections to the electronics can be made.
Highlights
In the past, analytical research sought to lower the detection limits for existing methods and to invent new techniques for total element determinations
For the separation of volatile compounds and of compounds that can be Correspondence should be addressed to l)r
The Brinckman system produces a series of atomic absorption signals that define a chromatographic band for each analyte containing the element to be detected. Such a series of signals can provide quantitative information about the analyte by summing the intensities of the signals belonging to a band, or by measuring the area under the curve obtained by connecting the signal maxima in sequence [15]
Summary
Analytical research sought to lower the detection limits for existing methods and to invent new techniques for total element determinations. Most trace element compounds are not volatile and cannot be transformed into such species without loss of information about their chemical nature Such substances are best separated with high performance liquid chromatography. The Brinckman system produces a series of atomic absorption signals that define a chromatographic band for each analyte containing the element to be detected. Such a series of signals can provide quantitative information about the analyte by summing the intensities of the signals belonging to a band, or by measuring the area under the curve obtained by connecting the signal maxima in sequence [15]. 0142-0453/93 $10.00 (C) 1993 Taylor & Francis Ltd
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