Performance of a pre-mixed, oxygen-enriched air-acetylene flame in flame-emission spectrophotometry

Abstract

Improved sensitivities in flame-emission spectrophotometry have been obtained as a result of a simple modification to a Unicam burner-nebuliser system, which permits addition of oxygen to an air-acetylene flame. This gives enhancement factors of from 4 to 120 for the elements calcium, strontium, magnesium, barium, copper, silver, lead, iron, molybdenum, chromium, cobalt, nickel, manganese, vanadium, aluminium and lithium. The oxygen-enriched air-acetylene flame overcomes the interference effects of phosphate on calcium and magnesium, and partially eliminates the effect of aluminium on calcium.