Abstract: In this paper, we studied the effect of surfactants on the sensitivity of Yb in the C₂H₂-Air flame. The absorption of Ytterbium was increased by about 10 or 50 times in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) or SDSwith the sulfosalicylic acid(SSA), respectively. The interference from other rare earth elements and some acids was greatly depressed,especially from SO₄^2- and PO₄^3-,in the presence of SDSand SSA. Moreover, the mechanism of enhancement of surfactants was also studied. The detective limit of Yb was fallen down to 0.031μg/mLin the presence of SDSand SSA,and the relative standard deviation was 3.0% in the range of 0.05-2.0μg/mL Yb.

Key words: Ytterbium Determination of Yb, Atomic absorption spectrometry, The effect of surfactants on the sensitiivity