A RAPID AND SENSITIVE METHOD FOR THE FLUORIMETRIC DETERMINATION OF PHOSPHATE BY FLOW-INJECTION

Due to the radial refractive index gradients that sometimes develop in flow cells during the travelling of the samples through them, the absorbance records obtained in such conditions have a strange shape, particularly at low analyte levels. To correct this phenomenon, called Schlieren effect, a simple and reliable signal processing algorithm is described in correlation to the detector characteristics of noise. The algorithm is illustrated in nitrite and nitrate determinations with proflavin from more real samples. It has a solid theoretical support and involves the subtraction from the sample records of a smoothed signal, acquired by working with a blank solution.