Optimization of lamp control parameters in glow discharge optical emission spectroscopy for the analysis of copper–titanium–zinc alloy using the Simplex method

Abstract

The optimization of glow discharge lamp control parameters (voltage, current) for the determination of Cu by glow discharge optical emission spectrometry (GD-OES) at 327.3 nm in copper–titanium–zinc alloy was performed using Simplex optimization. This approach substantially reduces the required number of experiments. The efficiency of the optimization procedure was tested using samples at two concentration ranges of copper. While at the lower concentration range (0.001–0.200%) the optimal parameters were 15 mA for the current and 1400 V for the voltage; at a higher range (0.50–2.00%) they were 50 mA and 700 V for current and voltage, respectively. At selected experimental conditions the method was validated for both concentration ranges and the results were compared with those obtained by the ICP-AES technique.