Micro/nano bubble-modified flame atomic spectrometry as a new technique for promotion of the figures of merit during determination of metal species: Improvement in the performance of pre-mixed burner

• Bubble-modified flame atomic spectrometry.
• Improvement in pre-mixed burner.
• Flashback in pre-mixed burner.

A new micro/nano bubble-modified flame atomic spectrometry has been introduced for promotion of some figures of some merit during determination of metal elements such as Pb(II) and Sn(II) via controlling the stoichiometry of an acetylene/air flame by bubbles generated through sonoelectrochemistry on the surface of nanocarbons such as carbon dots (CDs). For this purpose, the sonoelectrochemical cell is connected to a pre-mixed burner to generate both oxygen and hydrogen micro/nano bubbles during applying direct-current (DC) potential such as +8.00 V (for oxygen) or −8.00 V(for hydrogen) to a two-electrode system including a graphite rod and stainless steel inside a solution of 0.5 M NaCl as electrolyte. According to the results, introduction of each oxygen or hydrogen micro/nano bubbles to the flame atomizer not only has strong influence on controlling the stoichiometry (oxidizing and reducing behavior) and temperature of the flame, but also prevents from flashback of the flame into the pre-mixed burner. Major improvements is also observed in some figures of merit such as linearity, sensitivity, detection limit, and the selectivity during analyses of elements such as Pb(II) or Sn(II) via modification of atomic absorption/emission spectrometry (AAS, AES) with micro/nano bubbles. Generated bubbles also play significant roles like releasing and chelating agents during analysis of Pb(II). Good agreements have been evaluated between bubble-modified AAS and inductively coupled plasma during analyses of Pb(II) in some types of rice samples.