Hydride generation atomic absorption spectrometry with in situ pre-concentration in a graphite furnace in the presence of palladium

Abstract

A method is described for the determination of inorganic Ge in aqueous samples using hydride trapping and atomisation in a graphite furnace. Addition of Pd to the furnace tube surface before hydride trapping leads to large improvements in the sensitivity of the method. Extension of the procedure developed for Ge to As, Bi, Hg, Sb, Se, Sn and Te is demonstrated and the improvements in sensitivity with Pd are indicated. Analytical figures of merit including characteristic mass, precision and detection limit are given. The role of Pd is discussed.