Analytical Sciences

Solid Sampling in Analysis of Soils by Two-jet Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrometry

Natalia P. ZAKSAS* and Alexander F. VERYASKIN**

*Nikolaev Institute of Inorganic Chemistry, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Pr. Akademika Lavrent’eva 3, Novosibirsk 630090, Russia
**Institute of Automation and Electrometry, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Pr. Akademika Koptyuga 1, Novosibirsk 630090, Russia

The possibility of direct analysis of soils by two-jet plasma atomic emission spectrometry was investigated using certified reference materials of black earth, grey desert and red soils. It was shown that As, B, Cd, Cu, Hg, P, and V could be determined after a 2-fold, and Be, Co, Cr, Ga, Nb, Pb, and Zn—after a 10-fold dilution of the samples by a spectroscopic buffer using calibration samples based on graphite powder. The strongest matrix effects were revealed for red soil having the highest Al and Fe concentration, which led to the overstated concentrations of some elements. The overstating factor depended on analyte concentration and was no more than 2. A clear advantage of the suggested technique over existing methods is the simple sample preparation process, which requires no reagents except a spectroscopic buffer, and possibility of using the same calibration samples for analysis of different soils.

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