Influence of slurry preparation on the accuracy of ultrasonic slurry electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry

Abstract

The influence of slurry preparation on the accuracy of ultrasonic slurry electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry has been studied and this technique has been used for very accurate determinations such as the characterization of reference materials. This approach is particularly useful for characterization of the homogeneity of materials at mg and sub-mg levels. Because of the distribution of analyte between the solid and liquid phase of the slurry, a new term (‘representative sample mass’) is introduced to describe what portion of the mass of sample weighed out is represented by the analysis. The suitability of alternative wavelengths is demonstrated and guidelines for optimization of slurry preparation are presented.