Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering

Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur

Materials Characterization Lab. (MT39004)

Laboratory No. 3 – Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy

Objectives:
1. To understand the function of various primary parts of an Atomic Absorption Spectrometer
2. To find out atomic concentration of various elements present in an alloy (down to ppm level)

Procedure:
1. Understand the function and requirement of the light source, the flame apparatus with
nebulizer, the detector and the data acquisition & analysis system of the Atomic Absorption
Spectrometer and report in your Lab Notebook.
2. Observe the calibration of the instrument and report the procedure in your Lab Notebook.
3. Observe the various steps for solution preparation, atomization, UV light absorption and data
acquisition & analysis during finding out atomic concentration of Mn in the given steel sample
(or Cu & Zn concentration in the given brass alloy sample) and report the procedure in your
Lab Notebook.

Questions:
1. What are the limitations of AAS? Also compare AAS with Optical Emission Spectroscopy
(OES).
2. Explain the effect of flame heating and concentration of elements on the UV light absorbance
capability in terms of Beer-Lambert law.
3. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of atomizer if available other than flame.
4. What materials to be selected as anode and as cathode?
5. Why AAS is called a “destructive technique”?

References:
• Chapter on Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy by Darryl D. Siemer, ASM Metals Handbook,
Volume 10.
• D. A. Skoog, D. M. West, F. J. Holler: Fundamentals of Analytical Chemistry, Saunders
College Publishing, Fort Worth, USA, 1992.