DEVELOPMENT OF A HIGH PRESSURE TEMPERATURE FOCUSED MICROWAVE HEATED TEFLON BOMB FOR SAMPLE PREPARATION/

A new high pressure/temperature TFM-Teflon bomb for analytical sample preparation is described. The novel prototype system uses focused micr owaves, operated at 2.45 GHz, to improve digestion capability. Up to 1 00-W microwave power can be concentrated into a single polymer vessel containing sample and nitric acid. Methodology was developed using pow dered biological reference material. The feasibility of using water fo r in situ vessel cooling was investigated. The residual carbon content of bovine liver sample was determined by coulometry after combustion in an oxygen stream to evaluate the effectiveness of the decomposition procedure. With this new decomposition device, organic material is to tally oxidized with nitric acid is a single-step procedure. The sample preparation time is similar to 10 min (including subsequent cooling t ime and preparation of the final solution).