Determination of boron in plants by emission spectroscopy with the nitrous oxide-hydrogen flame

Abstract

Boron is readily determined in plant ash solutions, following extraction into chloroform of the chelate formed with 2-ethylhexane-1,3-diol, by means of the nitrous oxide-hydrogen flame and conventional flame photometers. Boron in concentrations as low as 8 p.p.m. in the dried plant material can be determined with a relative standard deviation of about 4 per cent. The boron oxide (BOx) band emission intensity at 518·2 or 547·6 nm is measured with wide slits. Recorder read-out and zero suppression are desirable. Results on several samples by this and four colorimetric methods are given. The large signal strengths obtained make this method superior to atomic-absorption techniques.