FLOW-INJECTION - THE ULTIMATE APPROACH TO AUTOMATION IN ANALYTICAL ATOMIC SPECTROSCOPY

Automation in analytical systems is reviewed, especially with regard t o the preparation and analysis of solutions. Flow injection analysis ( FI) lends itself to these needs as it enables many procedures such as dilution, reagent addition, derivatization etc to be automated. FI is now used even for automating chemical reactions such as solid sorbent extraction precipitation and coprecipitation. An advantage of FI is th at it is used successfully even in non-equilibrium conditions and with a suitable data management package allows single reference solution c alibration. It is one of the few methods available capable of addressi ng total automation from sample preparation to data manipulation.