Determination of manganese by electrothermal atomisation atomic absorption spectrometry following coprecipitation with yttrium hydroxide

Coprecipitation is applied to the determination of trace amounts of manganese by electrothermal atomisation atomic absorption spectrometry. Manganese (0.05–1μg) is coprecipitated quantitatively from the sample solution (50–500 ml) with yttrium hydroxide at pH 9.0–11.3. The atomic absorbance of manganese is increased about 3 times by using an yttrium-impregnated graphite cuvette. The calibration curve is linear from 0.002 to 0.04 μg ml −1 of manganese. Twenty-three different ions investigated did not produce serious interferences. The proposed method was successfully applied to the determination of trace amounts of manganese in zinc metal.