Dry Ashing Preparation of (Quasi)solid Samples for the Determination of Inorganic Elements by Atomic/Mass Spectrometry

Abstract:

This work presents an overview of the development of dry ashing preparation techniques for solid and quasisolid sample analysis by atomic and inorganic mass spectrometry, including flame/graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry, chemical vapor generation atomic absorption/fluorescence spectrometry, and inductively coupled plasma–optical emission/mass spectrometry. This article also summarizes all of the dry ashing methods reported in the past 20 years. The dry ashing methods applied to sample preparation are classified as electrothermal ashing, microwave ashing, oxygen combustion, and other special ashing methods including laser, ultraviolet (UV)/ozone, and plasma. Moreover, the development of relevant devices is discussed in context.

Keywords::

• Dry ashing
• sample preparation
• solid and quasisolid samples
• element determination
• atomic spectrometry
• mass spectrometry