Portable Atomic Absorption Spectrometer for Determination of Copper, Chromium, Lead and Cadmium in Environmental Water

By using a W-coil atomizer and a handheld CCD detector, a portable W-coil ETAAS instrument was constructed, and major instrumental parameters were optimized, such as the carrier gas flow rate, the position of hollow cathode lamp, the height of the atomizer, and ashing and atomization currents. After optimization, the carrier gas flow rate of Ar/H-2 (mL/min) was 600/300 for Cd, and 800/200 for Cu, Cr and Pb, respectively; the ashing current was 2.9 - 3.2 A, and the atomization current was 8.5 A; and the integral time for the CCD detector was 50 ms. It was used for the determination of Cu, Cr, Ph and Cd in environmental water under the optimized instrumental conditions. With a sampling volume of 10 mu L, the limits of detection for Cu, Cr, Ph and Cd is 2, 5, 9 and 0.5 mu g/L, respectively. The portable instrument has a promising future in the analysis of environmental water for trace elements.