Simultaneous determination of arsenic, bismuth and antimony in steels and nickel alloys by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry with hydride generation

Simultaneous determination of hydrides of As, Bi and Sb in steels and Ni alloys was achieved by coupling a polytetrafluoroethylene phase-separator layer to an inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometer. A reduction of Ni interference on the formation of the hydrides was achieved by adding suitable amounts of FeIII and acid. A relationship between the concentrations of acid and FeIII was established in order to minimize the Ni interference. The accuracy of the proposed procedure was assessed by analysing certified reference steels and Ni alloys. The results were in agreement with the reported reference values for As, Bi and Sb in the steels and the certified values for the Ni alloy.