ABSTRACT
Hydride-generation sampling systems for atomic absorption bear some resemblance to cold-vapor mercury systems. Samples are reacted in an external vessel with a reducing agent, usually sodium borohydride. Gaseous reaction products are then carried to a sampling cell in the light path of the AA spectrometer. Unlike the mercury technique, the gaseous reaction products are not free-analyte atoms but volatile hydrides. These molecular species are not capable of causing atomic absorption. To dissociate the hydride gas into free atoms, the sample cell must be heated.
