Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy
Atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) is a spectroanalytical procedure for the quantitative determination of chemical elements employing the absorption of optical radiation (light) by free atoms in the gaseous state.
In analytical chemistry the technique is used for determining the concentration of a particular element (the analyte) in a sample to be analyzed. AAS can be used to determine over 70 different elements in solution or directly in solid samples employed in pharmacology, biophysics and toxicology research.
Atomic absorption spectrometry was first used as an analytical technique, and the underlying principles were established in the second half of the 19th century by Robert Wilhelm Bunsen and Gustav Robert Kirchhoff, both professors at the University of Heidelberg, Germany.
The modern form of AAS was largely developed during the 1950s by a team of Australian chemists. They were led by Sir Alan Walsh at the CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization), Division of Chemical Physics, in Melbourne, Australia.
Read more about Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy: Principles, Instrumentation, Background Absorption and Background Correction
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