Abstract

The chemical vapour generation (CVG) of silver by tetrahydroborate(III) reduction as a sample introduction technique for atomic absorption spectrometry was studied. 7% of the analyte was volatilized in a miniature batch arrangement, as determined by instrumental neutron activation analysis. The continuous flow silver CVG system was designed to be interfaced with a diffusion flame or multiple microflame quartz tube atomizer, and peak area characteristic masses of 7 and 0.6 ng, respectively, were achieved. The chemical vapour generation efficiency of the described continuous flow system was in the same range as that of the batch system.