Comments on the paper: “Accurate quantitative analysis of gold alloys using multi-pulse laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy and a correlation-based calibration method”

The problem of finding new methods for the analysis of precious alloys has stimulated, in recent years, a number of different proposals for improving the analytical procedures introducing more robust calibration (or calibration-free) methods. In the paper “Accurate quantitative analysis of gold alloys using multi-pulse laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy and a correlation-based calibration method” by G. Galbács, N.Jedinski, G.Cseh, Z. Galbács and L. Túri [Spectrochimica Acta Part B, Volume 63, Issue 5, 591–597 (May 2008)] the authors proposed the use of multiple-pulse LIBS and a correlation-based method for building calibration curves for quantitative analysis of gold alloys. The method is proposed for gold alloys prepared using a fixed proportion of the alloying element. The general case where the relative concentration of the elements of the matrix is not a priori known is not discussed in the paper. In this communication, we will demonstrate that the method proposed is extremely fragile against matrix effects, and therefore cannot be usefully applied for the purpose of actual analytical measurements on gold alloys without a previous knowledge of the matrix composition.