Using equilibrium thermodynamics to study thermochemical processes in arc discharges used in atomic emission spectral analysis (review)

Until the beginning of the 21st century, the arc discharge was the main source of excitation of the atomic spectra of elements during routine atomic emission spectral analysis. The wide application of this spectral source at the same time aroused great interest of analysts in the study of complex thermochemical processes occurring at its electrodes and in the discharge plasma. This was due to the need to improve the metrological and informational characteristics of the analysis. Equilibrium thermodynamics has often been used to carry out such studies. It is shown that three levels of the thermodynamic approach can be distinguished here, differing in the complexity of the applied apparatus of thermodynamics and the information content of the results obtained. Numerous examples of the application of these levels of approach to the study of thermochemical processes occurring in the electrode or in the discharge plasma are given. The main advantages and disadvantages of the approaches used, which provide only qualitative information about the ongoing processes, are noted. The main disadvantage is the impossibility of predicting the composition of the arc plasma from the initial composition of the condensed sample. The most informative is the generalized thermodynamic model of thermochemical processes in a DC arc discharge from the sample surface and from the electrode crater. The model is based on the division of a non-stationary non-equilibrium system of an arc discharge into successive quasi-stationary subsystems. They correspond to the stage of sample evaporation and thermochemical transformation of its components in the discharge plasma. According to the model, the total equilibrium composition of the evaporated sample is initially calculated. This determines the initial composition of the arc plasma. Then, the total equilibrium composition of the arc plasma is calculated and the transition to the intensities of the spectral lines of the analytes is performed. The correctness of the generalized model, which gives semi-quantitative results, is confirmed by comparison with experimental data.