Graphite Furnace Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry:

As described earlier, a flame atomisation method suffers from a few drawbacks. In sequence to overcome these problems some flameless methods of AAS have been developed. Two kinds of flameless atomisers are commonly used. These are graphite tube or L'Vov furnace and the carbon rod or filament. AAS using graphite furnace is known as Graphite Furnace Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry  (GFAAS) that is highly sensitive (100 to 1000 times as compared to flame AAS) and needs a very small sample size. It has an additional advantage of not requiring any sample preparation. So much so that solid samples do not need sample dissolution. Let us learn about the electrothermal or flameless atomic absorption spectrophotometry.

The primary principle of flameless AAS is same to flame AAS. The analyte is converted within vaporised atoms in ground state which are subjected to the features resonance radiation emitted through a line source. The absorption of radiation and its extent form a primary of analytical applications. As regards the instrumental aspects, the two methods are same to a good extent, the difference being within the atomiser and the atom reservoir. Rest of the components of the instrument are the similar, thus, a faster electronics is needed to procedure the rapidly acquired transient signal in GFAAS. Now let us learn about the electrodeless or electrothermal atomisers.

GFAAS is also termed as electrothermal AAS since of the electrothermal atomizers used.