Metal oxide reduction: A low-temperature reaction with graphite in flameless atomic-absorption spectrometry.
The ability of graphite to reduce metal oxides to the free metal is discussed. Differential thermal analysis and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy are used to investigate the reaction in the case of CuSO(4). The reduction process is shown to occur at temperatures which are low relative to the appearance temperature of Cu. Thew results suggest that the appearance temperature of the element is governed by the vapour pressure of the metal and not by the reduction process.