New Instrumental Combustion Method for the Microdetermination of Phosphorus

An apparatus has been designed for the determination of microgram quantities of phosphorus-containing compounds. Both inorganic and organic compounds are reduced to phosphine under a stream of hydrogen in a quartz tube at 900-1000°C. The phosphine is separated from other combustion products on sequential alumina and porous polymer bead columns with final measurement by a thermionic GLC detector. The method routinely requires microgram samples with sensitivity capabilities to the nanogram level. The analysis time per sample is less than 5 min.