ATOMIC

ABSORPTION
SPECTROPHOTOMETRY
Delgado, Verna Rhose
Diaz, Djay
BET-CHT-S-2
 INTRODUCTION

❖ Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry (AAS) is a quantitative method of

analysis that is applicable to many metals and a few non-metals
❖ It is a very common technique for detecting and measuring concentration
of metals in the samples (ppm or ppb)
❖ It can analyze over 62 elements
❖ The first AAS was presented by Alan Walsh and his other co-workers in
Melbourne in 1954, it was a double beam atomic absorption
 Uses of
Atomic Absorption
Spectrophotometry
❖ Environmental Science
❖ Food Technology
❖ Pharmaceuticals
❖ Geochemical/Mining
❖ Petrochemicals
❖ Agriculture
❖ Forensic Science
❖ Pathology
 Parts
and
Functions
 Source - Hollow Cathode Lamp

❖ The Hollow cathode Lamp is made with

an element (metal) as the cathode
encased in a bulb with a low-pressure
inert gas. It is imposed with a 10mA
current such that when the metal is
excited electrically, characteristic
spectral line/lines are emitted and
passed directionally through a glass
UV/VIS window of the lamp.
 Nebulizer

❖ The nebulizer sucks up liquid sample at a

controlled rate, create a fine aerosol that mixes
with fuel and oxidant for introduction into the
flame. The nebulizer uses the combustion flames
to atomize and introduce the sample into the
light path. The high velocity of the combustion
gases cause a negative pressure inside the
nebulizer chamber and create a suction for an
uptake tube by a process of aspiration.
 Flames

❖ An oxidant and a fuel gas are mixed together and

lit to create the flame for FAAS. The Flame is the
Atomizer in which the sample undergoes
desolation and vaporization at high temperature.
It destroys any analyte ions, break up complexes
and creates the atoms of the element of interest.
 Burner Head

❖ Burner heads must not be made with a composition

of any of the metals determined by AA. It is normally
made of solid Titanium which is corrosion resistant to
strong acids and gases. Some burner heads used are:
1. The 10 cm single slot burner for air-acetylene
flames.
2. The 5 cm single wide slot burner used for reduced
sensitivity.
3. The 5 cm single slot burner used for nitrous
oxide-acetylene flames.
4. The 3 parallel slot burner used for those elements
very difficult to atomize.
 Monochromator

❖ The main purpose of the

monochromator is to isolate a single
atomic resonance line (wavelength)
from the lines emitted by the Hollow
cathode lamp and transmit it to the
detector. It not only selects the specific
analytical line, but excludes all other
interfering lines in that region.
 Photomultiplier tube (PMT)

❖ The PMT is the most commonly used

detector for atomic absorption
spectrophotometry. However, solid state
detectors are now replacing conventional
vacuum-type photomultipliers. High tech
electronics amplify, filter, and process the
electrical signal, using a series of chips
and microprocessors, transmitting the
result to an internal or external computer
which manage all data-handling and
display.
EXPERIMENT
Determination of unknown Fe
on a tablet solution
 Experiment
❑ Reagents, Glass wares and Materials needed

• 0.1M Nitric acid solution

• Deionized water
• Iron standard for AAS (1000mg/l)
• Pipette
• Volumetric flask 100 mL
• Volumetric flask 10mL
• 65mg Iron tablet
 Experiment
❑ For the solutions prepared
• 10ppm of Iron solution (Fe)
➢ this was made by mixing 1mL of Iron standard to a 100 mL
Volumetric flask with the 0.1M Nitric acid solution
• Iron Tablet solution
➢ this was made by dissolving the 65mg Iron tablet to a 100 mL
volumetric flask with the solution.
 Experiment
❑ For the solutions prepared
• 1ppm solution
➢ this was made from adding 1mL of the 10ppm Fe solution made with 9mL of
nitric acid solution
• 2ppm solution
➢ this was made from adding 2mL of the 10ppm Fe solution made with 8mL of
nitric acid solution
• 4ppm solution
➢ this was made from adding 4mL of the 10ppm Fe solution made with 6mL of
nitric acid solution
• 5ppm solution
➢ this was made from adding 5mL of the 10ppm Fe solution made with 5mL of
nitric acid solution
RESULT
Solution concentration ppm Absorption

1ppm 0.031

2ppm 0.065

4ppm 0.130

5ppm 0.180

Fe Solution 0.073
 Calibration curve for Iron
0.2
0.18
0.16
0.14

absoorption
0.12
0.1
0.08
0.06
0.04
0.02
0
1ppm 2ppm 4ppm 5ppm
Absorption 0.031 0.065 0.13 0.18

The steps involved in using atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) data to determine the concentration of a species in a
solution are:
Step 1: Draw a calibration curve using the concentration and absorbance data for a set of standards.
Step 2: Use the calibration curve and the absorbance of the sample to "read off" the concentration of the species in the
sample.
Step 3: If the original sample was diluted before being analyzed, use the concentration of the diluted sample obtained from
the calibration curve to calculate the concentration of the species in the original undiluted sample.
THANK YOU !!