Determination of tin in plain carbon, stainless and high-speed steels by atomic-absorption spectrophotometry with electrothermal atomisation

Abstract

A method for determining the tin content of plain carbon, stainless and high-speed steels by use of an atomic-absorption technique with electrothermal atomisation is described.

Careful selection of the conditions under which the steel samples are dissolved makes it possible to obtain final solutions with approximately the same concentrations with respect to nitric acid. In consequence, it is possible to analyse all of the steels examined by using the same calibration graph. The proposed method is free of interferences from the other components normally present in steels and is suitable for analysing samples with a tin content in the range 0.002–0.040%.

The proposed method provides rapid and accurate results and is suitable for routine analysis.