Determination of Trace Amounts of Antimony by Flameless Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy

Abstract

Abstract A method for the determination of traces of antimony in organic and inorganic material is described. One gram of the sample is decomposed with sulphuric acid and hydrogen peroxide in a closed system; hydrochloric acid is added and antimony is extracted from the solution with diisopropyl ether. Aliquots of the extract are atomized in a heated graphite tube for atomic absorption measurement. Three possibilities of antimony measurement with detection limits of 0.6, 0.06, and 0.02 mcg per 1 g sample (1% absorption) are described. The method is suitable for routine work and compares favourably to flame and spectrophotometric methods.