CORRELATION BETWEEN ANALYTICAL SIGNAL AND RATE OF SAMPLE ATOMIZATION IN ELECTROTHERMAL ATOMIC-ABSORPTION SPECTROMETRY

The relationship between an analytical signal, recorded at the spectrophotometer output, and the rate of sample atomization in the furnace has been analysed theoretically. The atomic transfer in the gas phase and the time constant of the recording system are shown to cause the broadening, the shift and the decrease in the peak height of the output signal, compared with the atomization pulse. These distortions can cause smoothing in the multiple peak of atomization. A simple criterion of their negligibility has been proposed. A solution of the inverse problem has been obtained, allowing reconstruction of the initial sample atomization rate from the recorded analytical signal. An efficient algorithm allowing the on-line processing of signals in the spectrophotometer microcomputer has been proposed. The distorting influence of transfer processes and of the recording system upon the shape of Arrhenius plots have been analysed.