AAS (Atomic Absorption Spectrometry)--Has It Gone or Where Is It Going

摘要

A brief survey of the current literature would suggest that atomic absorption spectrometry is on its way out as an analytical technique. Each year, fewer papers appear that describe novel AAS instrumentation, techniques, or applications. Instead, most studies on atomic spectrometry are concerned with the inductively coupled plasma, alternative plasma sources, or novel means of detection. In this paper, this apparent trend will be considered, the development (or decline) of AAS will be compared to that of competing techniques for elemental analysis, and unusual directions in AAS and similar methods will be reviewed. Although the number of recently published manuscripts that deal with AAS is indeed declining, the number of AAS determinations performed each year remains substantial. Similarly, sales of AAS instruments remain strong. This trend can be attributed in large measure to the simplicity and convenience of use that surrounds AAS procedures. Also, the sensitivity of furnace/AAS continues to be important in many applications. Detracting from AAS are its continued and recognized shortcomings as a truly simultaneous multielement method. The necessary straight-line geometry of an absorption process, coupled with the convenience of the hollow cathode lamp as a primary source, make it difficult to adapt AAS to multielement schemes. As a result, complex samples must be run repeatedly for a full elemental profile to be determined. Furthermore, performing qualitative analysis on samples becomes an arduous task by AAS. Atom cells ordinarily used for AAS also remain one of the method's limitations. Keywords: Atomic absorption, Elemental analysis. (MJM)