A NEW APPROACH TO FLAME SPECTROMETRIC ANALYSIS UTILIZING ISOLATED DROPLETS OF SAMPLE SOLUTION

The sensitivity, precision and degree of control attainable from the flame spectrometric analysis of isolated sample droplets has been investigated. A unique system is used to introduce a single droplet or a stream of uniform, isolated droplets on a precise trajectory into a stable, well-characterized flame. Desolvation of a droplet and vaporization of the resulting particle occur in well-defined regions of the flame, producing a small volume of concentrated atomic vapor useful for atomic emission, absorption, or fluorescence analysis. Analyses using the emitted radiation from single droplets yield detection limits of less than 10-15 gram of Na and 10-13 gram of Ca. Multiple uniform droplet analyses provide high precision, with a relative standard deviation as low as 0.01% over short periods and about 0.1% over an entire day. Also, droplet isolation and the stability of the system permit the collection of spectral information from the atomic vapor at a time and in a region of the flame that is optimum for chemical analysis. Thereby the effect of interference is reduced and accuracy improved. © 1969, American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.