Application of low temperature electrothermal vaporization ICP-AES for determination of refractory yttrium with 1-(2-pyridylazo)-2-naphthol as chemical modifier

A low temperature electrothermal vaporization inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ETV-ICP-AES) method was developed for the determination of the refractory yttrium, using 1-(2-pyridylazo)-2-naphthol (PAN) as chemical modifier. The trace yttrium was vaporized as PAN complex into plasma from a graphite furnace at a comparatively low temperature of 1200 °C. The operation conditions were optimized, and the vaporization behavior of Y–PAN chelate and the main factors affecting the determination were investigated in detail. Under the optimized conditions, the detection limit of Y was 0.7 ng ml−1, and the relative standard deviation (R.S.D.) for 0.1 μg ml−1 Y was 4.5% (n=9, v=10 μl). The linear range of calibration curve covered three orders of magnitude. The recommended approach has been applied for analysis of three biological samples with satisfactory results. The accuracy of the method was demonstrated by analyzing two standard reference materials.