Application of palladium- and rhodium-plating of the graphite furnace in electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry

Abstract

Palladium- and Rh-plating of the graphite furnace has been evaluated as a method of introducing the metallic form of Pd and Rh for chemical modification in electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry. It is shown that by electroplating Pd and Rh onto the inner surface of the tube, the pre-treated graphite surface may resemble the behaviour of the corresponding modifier. The resulting metallic layer is very effective in inhibiting the loss of volatile elements (e.g., As and Se), as well as reducing the influence of oxide and carbide formation (e.g., Si). The advantage of the proposed procedure of introduction of a solid chemical modifier is that the pre-treated tubes exhibit an extended analytical lifetime for the determination of As and Se, up to 80 and 160 firings in the presence of Pd and Rh, respectively. In the case of Si the Rh-plated graphite tube could last for about 100 firings.