Determination of Major Elements in Building Materials Using Flame AAS Application Note · novAA 800 F

Introduction

Building materials play an important role in today’s industry. Their composition has a big influence on material properties and fields of application, as well as on their behavior in ecosystems and recyclability. Tightly monitoring the elemental composition of building materials, such as cement, is key for ensuring their quality, and this composition is thus routinely measured in industrial quality control labs. The following application note describes a method for determining the composition of mullite and fiber cement as conducted by an on-site wet-chemical process lab of a producer for building materials.

The novAA 800 F is a robust Atomic Absorption Spetrometer (AAS) equipped with accessories that simplify routine analysis. An autosampler with integrated dilution function makes time-consuming wet-chemical sample preparation redundant, thus enabling high sample throughput even for high-matrix samples. The Segmented Flow Star (SFS 6.0) is an injection switch for segmented sample introduction and continuous rinsing that reduces carryover and contributes to a smooth operation, thus ensuring reliable results.

An automatic burner head cleaner, or Scraper, guarantees stable measuring conditions and reproducible results by removing deposits from the burner slit, especially when working with the C2H2/N2O flame. The latter flame conditions are beneficial for the analysis of refractory elements.