1982 Volume 31 Issue 9 Pages 534-538
A comparative study for the determination of tellurium by hydride generation-nondispersive atomic fluorescence spectrometry has been carried out by utilizing two types of gas handling systems; one of them involves hydrogen telluride, generated by either zinc tablet (Zn method) or sodium tetrahydroborate powder (NaBH4 powder method), to be collected in a vessel followed by introduction of the hydride into an Ar(air)-H2 flame (i.e., collection mode) and the other the hydride, produced by injecting either sodium tetrahydroborate solution into a sample solution (NaBH4 solution method [I]) or sample solution into a sodium tetrahydroborate solution (NaBH4 solution method[II]), to be introduced directly into the flame (i.e., directtransfer mode). Detection limits (S/N=3) are 4 ng, 8 ng, 2 ng, and 30 ng of tellurium in NaBH4solution methods[I] and [II], Zn method and NaBH4 powder method, respectively, and reagent blanks (corresponding to analyte mass) are 10 ng, 0, 30 ng, and 500 ng of tellurium. Analytical working curves obtained with the first three methods are linear over a range of ca. 4 orders of magnitude from the lowest determinable amount of 10-ng tellurium, whereas the last gives a linear dynamic range of ca. 3 orders of magnitude with the smallest determinable amount of 100-ng tellurium. There is little or no significant difference in reproducibility of signal measurement and interelement interference effect among these four methods.
