The influence of ethanol addition on excitation of aluminium in the argon stabilized d.c. arc

Abstract

The effect of ethanol addition on the spectral line intensities of aluminium and excitation conditions in an argon stabilized d.c. are was investigated. In order to find optimal conditions for trace elements determination, some experimental parameters, important for analytical capabilities of this plasma source, such as current intensity, spectroscopic buffer concentration and concentration of ethanol in aqueous-ethanol mixtures, were determined. The influence of ethanol addition on the nebulization efficiency and physical properties of the mixtures analyzed was examined too. The increase in intensity of Al atomic line in the presence of ethanol in concentration up to 20 %, can be partly explained by higher nebulization efficiency. The other reason lies in the changes in the excitation and ionization processes, which was confirmed by the measurements of excitation temperature and electron number density.