Determination of sulfur-containing species in solids by molecular emission cavity analysis

Two types of flames, the nitrogen-cooled and the argon-cooled hydrogen flame, have been used for the determination of sulfur-containing species in solids by molecular emission cavity analysis (MECA). The argon-cooled flame has a much greater sensitivity than the nitrogen-cooled flame for the determination of SO/sub 4//sup 2 -/. In a solid mixture containing S/sub 8/, S/sup 2 -/, SO/sub 3//sup 2 -/, and SO/sub 4//sup 2 -/, the presence of one or more of these sulfur-containing species can be determined with the aid of the argon-cooled flame. The nitrogen-cooled flame is useful in special cases, for example, in the determination of the components of a mixture of S/sub 8/ and SO/sub 3//sup 2 -/ which are present in a solid matrix. All these sulfur-containing species can be quantitatively determined in the argon-cooled flame in the concentration range from about 10 to 5000 ppm. The variation from 10% to 20% in the reproducibility of these measurements has been attributed to the nonhomogeneity of the solid materials and the small sample sizes that had to be used in these determinations.