Atmospheric pressure vapour phase decomposition: a proof of principle.

In the present work we demonstrated that the digestion of difficult matrices (high boiling petrochemical fractions and distillation bottoms) can be achieved by oxidation with nitric acid vapours at atmospheric pressure employing simple laboratory glassware. The application of this procedure as a digestion method prior to Total Reflection X-Ray Fluorescence (TXRF) is presented, although the employment of other detection techniques may be foreseen. The method ensured a fast, less than half an hour, treatment time and detection limits in the range 20-100 μg/kg for As, Bi, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, Sr, Zn, whereas higher values were obtained for Ba, Ca, K, P, Rh, Ti and V (0.3-3 mg/kg). The potentialities and limitations of this procedure were discussed: the application to a broad range of matrices may be foreseen.