Borate fusion preparation of high-speed steel for determination of vanadium by flame atomic absorption spectrometry with a continuum-lightsource spectrometer system

This paper suggests an improved method for the sample preparation to quantify vanadium in high-speed steel by using flame atomic absorption spectrometry. The suggested method prepared a solidified glass body fused with lithium tetraborate after the sample was decomposed with an acid mixture of hydrofluoric and nitric acids. The obtained borate glass was easily dissolved with nitric acid without any residues. Another novelty of this paper was a simultaneous measurement of a vanadium absorption line and a nickel absorption line in the close wavelength, when a multiwavelength high-resolution spectrometer system was employed. The nickel line worked as an internal standard and could contribute to more precise quantification of vanadium in high-speed steel samples.