Size is everything

A series of mini-graphite tubes have been fabricated by scientists in Germany to be used as sample holders for high-resolution continuum source graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (HR-CS GFAAS). As they describe in the Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry, the internal diameters are way smaller than conventional tubes, at 1, 1.5 and 2 mm compared with 5.8 mm. These resulting smaller atomiser volumes are responsible for better sensitivities for most elements tested, despite a loss of lamp radiation for the smaller tubes. For the 2-mm tube, sensitivities were improved by a factor of 6-12 for 51 elements.