Diode laser differential absorption spectrometry for measurements of some parameters of condensed media.

A method of diode laser differential absorption spectrometry (DLDAS) is proposed. The method is based on the detection of absorption spectra variations caused by the changes of a parameter of a condensed media (temperature, composition of the components of a mixture, pH, etc.). Some simple theoretical background of the proposed technique is presented. The potentialities of the method are demonstrated in the experiments on remote contactless measurement of the temperature of aqueous solutions and measurement of the deviations of the composition of a mixture of dyes from the equilibrium state.

Element selective detection of molecular species applying chromatographic techniques and diode laser atomic absorption spectrometry.

Tunable diode laser atomic absorption spectroscopy (DLAAS) combined with separation techniques and atomization in plasmas and flames is presented as a powerful method for analysis of molecular species. The analytical figures of merit of the technique are demonstrated by the measurement of Cr(VI) and Mn compounds, as well as molecular species including halogen atoms, hydrogen, carbon and sulfur.

Chlorine analysis by diode laser atomic absorption spectrometry.

The general characteristics of Diode Laser Absorption Spectrometry (DLAAS) in low pressure plasmas particularly with respect to the detection of non-metals are comprehensively recapitulated and discussed. Furthermore, a detector, which is based on DLAAS in a microwave-induced low pressure plasma as an alternative technique for halogene-specific analysis of volatile compounds and polymeric matrices is described. The analytical capability of the technique is demonstrated on the chlorine-specific analysis of ablated polymer fragments as well as gas chromatographically separated hydrocarbons. Since the measurements were carried out by means of a balanced-heterodyne detection scheme, different technical noise contributions, such as laser excess and RAM noise could efficiently be suppressed and the registered absorption was limited only by the principal shot noise. Thus, in the case of the polymer analysis a chlorine-specific absolute detection limit of 10 pg could be achieved. Furthermore, fundamental investigations concerning the influence of hydrocarbons on the dissociation capability of the microwave induced plasma were performed. For this purpose, the carbon-, chlorine- and hydrogen-specific stoichiometry of the compounds were empirically determined. Deviations from the expected proportions were found to be insignificant, implying the possibility of internal standardization relative to the response of a reference sample.

Speciation of methylcyclopentadienyl manganese tricarbonyl by high-performance liquid chromatography-diode laser atomic absorption spectrometry.

Methylcyclopentadienyl manganese tricarbonyl (MMT) is a fuel additive that has been marketed for use in unleaded gasoline since December 1995. The widespread use of this additive has been suggested to cause health risks, but limitations in data regarding its degradation products and their toxicity prevent an accurate evaluation. To monitor the organomanganese compounds, it is clearly advantageous to employ low-cost, high-sensitivity, manganese-specific instrumentation to perform speciation. In this work, instrumentation fitting these criteria was obtained by the combination of high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with diode laser atomic absorption spectrometry (DLAAS) and was used to determine MMT, its nonmethylated derivative, cyclopentadienyl manganese tricarbonyl (CMT), and inorganic manganese. DLAAS was shown to be a versatile analytical technique for total Mn determination, with a detection limit of 1 ng/mL and a linear dynamic range (LDR) of almost 5 orders of magnitude. Analytical figures of merit for HPLC-DLAAS included a detection limit of 2 ng(as Mn)/mL, a LDR of 3 orders of magnitude, and an analysis time of three minutes. The organometallic compounds are characterized by rapid photolysis in sunlight, and hence, experiments were performed to evaluate whether normal laboratory lighting is suitable for their determination. Our results showed that normal laboratory protocols may be employed except that the organomanganese compounds should be stored away from light except during sample introduction procedures. The ability of the instrumentation to selectively preconcentrate organomanganese compounds while removing inorganic manganese was demonstrated. Sufficient resolution was obtained to determine a 20-fold excess of CMT compared with MMT. The ability of the system to do practical analysis was demonstrated by the accurate determination of MMT in spiked samples of gasoline, human urine, and tap water. These results demonstrate the suitability of HPLC-DLAAS for the speciation of MMT and its derivatives in industrial, toxicological, and environmental samples.

Metal Speciation in the ppt Range by HPLC and Diode Laser Atomic Absorption Spectrometry in a Flame.

A simple, compact, and powerful instrument for metal speciation in the ppt range is described. The instrument includes a HPLC module for separation and a diode laser for element-selective detection by wavelength modulation absorption spectrometry in an analytical flame. The high detection power for metal species is due to a two-beam arrangement with logarithmic amplification of the normalized signal, which compensates the laser residual amplitude modulation noise, the offset, and its fluctuation. The analytical figures of merit are demonstrated by measurements of very low concentrations of Cr(VI) in tap water.