Why Flame AAS Users Are Moving Up to ICP-OES

Atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS or flame AAS) and inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) represent two long-established technologies used in a wide variety of analytical applications. ICP-OES has traditionally come with a considerably higher price tag than AAS. Thus, many users have felt constrained to consider only AAS instruments for a variety of tasks where lower costs were essential. Recently, however, price points have shifted. Manufacturing efficiencies and other changes now offer the possibility of obtaining an ICP-OES product at not much more than the cost of an AAS device. So a number of users previously locked into evaluating AAS technology alone are now considering ICP-OES for their next analytical instrument purchase.

A new white paper of SPECTRO Analytical Instruments provides an in-depth comparison of these two long-established technologies used in a wide variety of elemental analysis applications. You can download this new paper here.

Webinar: ICP-OES or Flame AAS – Which Spectrometer Technology is Best for You?

Additionally, this topic is featured in a new on-demand webinar which was developed to explain the essential strengths and weaknesses of each technology to help you make better decisions about the quality and cost of your chemical analyses. The presentation offers a brief review of the fundamental science and basic principles of inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) and flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS). This presentation segment is lead by José Alfons Clément Broekaert, professor emeritus of analytical chemistry at the University of Hamburg. Dr Broekaert brings many decades of experience to the field of analytical chemistry with a sharp focus on atomic spectrometry and plasma sources for the determination of elements and their compounds.

Olaf Schulz, SPECTRO Product Manager for ICP-OES instruments, and Dr Dirk Ardelt, SPECTRO R&D Manager ICP Products, offer an overview of the key strengths and limitations of each technology’s analytical capabilities for specific element ranges including technical aspects such as spectral interferences as well as chemical and ionization interferences. Additionally they will offer an overview of the technologies in terms of operational costs, ease of use, analytical throughput, and other practical considerations. You´ll find this on-demand webinar here.