SIMULTANEOUS MULTIELEMENT DETERMINATION USING HELIUM OR ARGON PLASMA FOR GRAPHITE-FURNACE CAPACITIVELY COUPLED PLASMA-ATOMIC EMISSION-SPECTROMETRY

Furnace atomization plasma excitation spectrometry (FAPES) has been he ralded as a promising new technique for simultaneous multi-element det erminations at sub-ppb concentrations. Graphite furnace capacitively c oupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (GFCCP-AES) is a specific c onfiguration of FAPES technology. Reported here is the first applicati on of GFCCP-AES to simultaneous multi-element ultratrace determination s. Comparison of analytical sensitivity and signal characteristics are made for Ar and He plasmas in GFCCP-AES. The emission pulses for Cd, Zn, TI, Pb, Ag, Sb, Au and Sn were higher and broader in the Ar plasma than in the He plasma. The noise levels were approximately equal for both plasmas, hence, the signal-to-noise ratio was superior for the Ar plasma. Mechanisms of vaporization, atomization and excitation are di scussed and compared with those proposed by other workers.