FURTHER DEVELOPMENT OF THE BENT TUBE WATER-COOLED ATOM TRAP FOR ARSENIC, ANTIMONY, COPPER AND MANGANESE

A dual 'bent' tube water cooled atom trap was optimized for the detect ion of As, Sb, Cu and Mn. The parameters optimized were fuel bow, perc entage obscuration of the light beam, and the height of the tubes abov e the burner. It was found that high fuel flow, high percentage obscur ation and low tube height were critical in obtaining high sensitivity. Atomization times from the surface of the silica tubes have been rela ted to the physical properties of the four elements under study and fo r a further three elements, namely Sn, Cd, and Pb, this was necessary for the construction of the model, using ordinary least squares analys is. The reasons for this are discussed. The sensitivities for As, Sb, Cu and Mn, using this technique were 8.6, 8, 0.93 and 0.38 ng ml(-1), respectively.