Computational elimination of interelemental interference in the analysis of copper, cobalt and nickel in polymetallic sea bed nodules by flame atomic absorption spectrometry

A method has been described for the estimation of Cu, Co and Ni in polymetallic sea bed nodule samples by flame atomic absorption spectrometry using single component calibration standards. Interelemental interference plays a crucial role in the estimation of Cu, Co and Ni by flame AAS. Calibration by multicomponent matrix matching standards often fails because of wide variations in the compositions of actual samples. Cu, Co and Ni values are depressed in the presence of appreciable amounts of Fe and Mn present in the sea nodule matrix. Observed interferences have been eliminated computationally using a two parameter theoretical model. The method has been successfully applied for the estimation of Cu, Co and Ni in real life sea nodule samples by flame AAS using single component calibration standards.