Method development for the determination of thallium in coal using solid sampling graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry with continuum source, high-resolution monochromator and CCD array detector

The determination of thallium by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GFAAS) is plagued by several difficult-to-control interferences. High-resolution continuum-source GFAAS, a technique not yet commercially available, was used to investigate and eliminate spectral interferences, and to develop a reliable method for the determination of thallium in coal using direct solid sampling. The resolution of 2.1 pm per pixel, and the display of the spectral environment ±0.2 nm on both sides of the analytical line were ideally suited for that purpose. The thallium signal was preceded by excessive non-specific absorption due to the coal matrix when pyrolysis temperatures ≤600 °C were used, and a characteristic molecular absorption with pronounced fine structure was following the atomic absorption. With a pyrolysis temperature of 700 °C the non-specific absorption at the beginning of the atomization stage could be eliminated, and using an atomization temperature of 1700 °C, and no modifier, the atomic absorption could be separated in wavelength and in time from the molecular structures, making possible an interference-free determination of thallium, using Pixel 260 at 276.8085 nm for background correction. The results obtained for 11 coal samples and one coal fly ash were in agreement at a 95% confidence level without a modifier, with palladium added in solution, and with ruthenium as permanent modifier, respectively, using aqueous standards for calibration. A characteristic mass of m0=12 pg and 5.5 pg was obtained with the center pixel only, and the center pixel ±1, respectively. The precision, expressed as relative standard deviation was typically better than 5%, and the limit of detection, based on three times the standard deviation of the coal with the lowest analyte content, was 0.01 μg g−1.