COMPUTER-PROGRAM (CHMASS) FOR CALCULATING THEORETICAL CHARACTERISTIC MASS VALUES IN ELECTROTHERMAL ATOMIC-ABSORPTION SPECTROMETRY

A computer program (CHMASS) is described that calculates characteristic mass (m(o)) values for electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry (ETAAS) following user-specified input of atomizer type or dimensions and atomization temperature. All the necessary spectroscopic and physical parameters for calculating m(o) values for 40 elements (and 44 analytical wavelengths) commonly determined by ETAAS are included in the database. Application of the program is illustrated by several theoretical and practical examples: (i) a study of the effect of atomization temperature on absorption and diffusion coefficients for silver; (ii) an investigation of how the sample injection hole limits the maximum attainable ETAAS sensitivity for copper as the tube length is increased; (iii) optimization of the atomization temperature for the determination of cadmium in a standard reference material; and (iv) a comparison of several commercial atomizer designs as regards the calculated atomization efficiencies using data from the manufacturers' literature. This last comparison provides further evidence for the superiority of platform atomization and integrated absorbance measurements over wall atomization combined with peak height evaluation.