A Practical Guide to Graphite Furnace Atomic Absorption Spectrometry

Long considered too unwieldy for most practical purposes, Graphite Furnace Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (GFAAS) is now considered an indispensable tool of analytical chemistry. Thanks to a series of relatively recent instrumental and methodological improvements that make the technique more easy to control, GFAAS is now routinely used for measuring concentrations of many trace elements (all metals and some nonmetals) in biological, clinical, environmental, food, geological, and other samples-especially in cases in which the samples are either too small or in which the analyte concentrations are too low to be measured by flame atomic absorption techniques. A Practical Guide to Graphite Furnace Atomic Absorption Spectrometry is an up-to-date and thorough guide to performing GFAAS. Following a concise introduction to GFAAS theory, nomenclature, and analytical methodology, the authors present a detailed discussion of all practical aspects of GFAAS. In separate chapters they provide in-depth coverage of calibration, instrumentation, interference-free analysis, and sample preparation and introduction. Chapters also examine the types, costs, and training of commercial GFAAS instrumentation, and strategies for developing GFAAS methods tailored to the unique demands of your research pursuits. The book concludes with a series of helpful appendices featuring a fascinating historical account of GFAAS, a guide to relevant literature in the field, and a valuable compilation of conditions for performing GFAAS. A Practical Guide to Graphite Furnace Atomic Absorption Spectrometry belongs in the working libraries of all analytical chemists.