Compact flame atomic absorption spectrometer based on handheld CCD for simultaneous determination of calcium and magnesium in water

Abstract

A simple and compact flame atomic absorption spectrometer (FAAS) was constructed to carry out simultaneous multielement determination of calcium and magnesium in water. In this instrumental system, a handheld and computer-controlled charge coupled device (CCD) spectrometer was used as the detector, and a calcium and magnesium multielement hollow cathode lamp was used as the light source. The instrumental limits of detection (LOD) were 0.5 mg l⁻¹ and 0.03 mg l⁻¹ for calcium and magnesium, respectively. Calcium and magnesium in a water sample were simultaneously determined, with the analytical results in good agreement with those by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). The recoveries for calcium and magnesium standards added to the water sample were in the range of 103–114%.