Atomic spectrometry update. Industrial analysis: metals, chemicals and advanced materials

This is the latest review covering atomic spectrometric measurements of industrial materials, metals, chemicals and advanced materials. It follows on from last year's review1 and should be read in conjunction with other reviews in the series.2-6 Some areas covered in this review are expanding rapidly, with substantially more research interest than had been noted previously. There has therefore been a re-organisation of the structure of the review. Nanotechnology and the analysis of thin films have been split into separate sections. There is also an effort to be more critical of the published literature and to direct the reader towards areas of expanding research. In an attempt to make the review into an easy reference source, the use of tables has been re-introduced. Literature cited in the tables, although interesting is, in the opinion of the authors, of lesser importance to the atomic spectrometric analyst than that discussed in the text. There is also increasing overlap of subject areas, e.g., with many ceramics being used in electronic capacitors. Other areas may also overlap, e.g. glass and ceramics and even ceramics and metals (CERMETS). It is therefore worth noting that some papers may be discussed in more than one section of the review and that other papers may only be discussed once, but in an unexpected place. The writing team are keen to elicit feedback from readers of this review and invite you to complete the Atomic Spectroscopy Updates questionnaire on www.asureviews.org. (376 references).