Atomic Spectrometry Update—Industrial Analysis: Metals, Chemicals and Advanced Materials

Abstract

This Atomic Spectrometry Update is the third to appear under the title of ‘Industrial Analysis’. The structure of the review is the same as that used in previous years.

The subject matter covered in this review is so diverse that it is difficult to discern broad themes in application or technique development. However, pressures continue to be exerted on industrial laboratories to provide information with greater structural content (both of a chemical and physical nature) while at the same time demands are made for higher sample throughput and improved sensitivity. A wide range of techniques are now available for the direct characterisation of solids, allowing the integrity of the sample to be maintained. However, the issue of response calibration is central to the debate concerning the study of solid structures, and a variety of theoretical and empirical methods have been proposed to obviate such difficulties. The determination of chemical structure has become increasingly important as the advantages of using atomic spectometric techniques for chromatographic detection are realised. In order to satisfy demand for greater sensitivity, preconcentration and/or extraction procedures continue to be developed, and the use of flow injection for automating such procedures is growing. There are also encouraging signs of the development of atomic spectrometric techniques for process control, which should lead to a reduction of the amount of routine analysis required. It remains to be seen whether the instruments developed over many years for laboratory work will evolve to meet this challenge.