Vaporization and atomization of neodymium in graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry

A combined theoretical and experimental approach has been used to investigate the atomization process for neodymium in graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GFAAS). Experimental results, using GFAAS and electrothermal vaporization-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry, show that both oxide and carbide dissociation are responsible for Nd atom formation. A thermodynamic equilibrium model for atomization, based on the thermal dissociation of gaseous lanthanide monoxides, is presented. This model will account for the wide variation in sensitivities reported for the determination of rare earth elements by GFAAS and gives a good correlation between experimental characteristic mass values and monoxide bond dissociation energies.