Atomic absorption instrument: a means of atomic absorption occurred from the same basic components as ordinary spectrophotometer, so it contains:

a radiation source, monochromator, flame detector and indicator reinforcement (amplifier) AAS should be very selective- each element has different set of energy levels and lines verry narrow. But for linier calibration curve(beers law) need bandwidth of absorbing species to be broader than that of light source, difficult with ordinary monochromator Solved by using very narrow line radiation sources: Minimize doppler broadening Pressure broadening Lower P and T than atomizer And using resonant absorption Na emission 3p 2s at 589.6 nm used to probe Na ib analyte

Hollow Cathode Lamp

300 V applied between anode (+) and metal cathode (-) Ar ions bombard cathode and sputter cathode atoms Fraction of sputtered atoms excited, then fluoresce Cathode made of metal of interest (Na, Ca, K, Fe...) Different lamp for each element Restricts multielement detection Hollow cathode to maximize probability of redeposition on cathode restricts light direction AAS Spectrophotometers:

Chromatography method: Detection limits for AAS/AES? AAS less suitable for: weak absorbers(forbiddenn transitions) Metalloid andnon metals(absorb in UV)

basic principles of AAS 1. Footage or footage solution burned in a flame or heated in a special tube (eg furnace). 2. In each atom there are a number of discrete energy levels that occupied by electrons. Energy level starts with E0 when located on the ground state (grouns state level) to E1, E2 to E. Atoms are not excited, are in the ground state (ground state). To excite the atom, one or more electrons have to move to the level higher energy by means of energy absorption by the atom. energy can be supplied by a photon or a collision of events caused by heat. With that event, the outermost electrons would stay away from the core at least is the first energy level E1. The energy required is equivalent to the difference from one energy level to the base energy. E = E1 - E0. Figure Diagram of Radiation Absorption Events

The energy required for electron transitions can be met by a photon or light which is equivalent to: E = hv AAS called a destructive techniqu, because only solutions containing the investigated element can be used. Solid samples should be accurately weighed and then dissolved, often using strong acids(e. G in cases when soil samples contaminated with heavy metal ions are measured). However only avery small amount of sample is enough, because of the high sensitivity of the technique. The solvent of the solution is evaporated and all materials present in the sample are vaporised and dissociated to atoms at the very high temperature. (the process in the reality is a bit more complicated, since ions and oxides are also produced, decomposition and association reactions take place too). The following atomisation methods are known: Flame atomisation Graphite furnace atomisation Mercury hydride atomisation(this is only mentioned here, but not used while going standarbase experiments).