Contribution to vapor generation-inductively coupled plasma spectrometric techniques for determination of sulfide in water samples

Vapor generation-inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry was used for the determination of sulfide in water samples preserved by the addition of a zinc acetate and sodium hydroxide solution. Hydrogen sulfide and acid-volatile sulfides were transformed, by acidification, to a gaseous phase in a vapor generator and subsequently detected by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry. Compounds interfering with iodometric titration and spectrophotometric determination were examined as potential chemical interferents. The proposed method provides results comparable to iodometric titration in the tested concentration range 0.06-22.0 mg L⁻¹. Limit of detection for the determination of hydrogen sulfide by this method is 0.03 mg L⁻¹.     

Sensitive sandwich immunoassay based on single particle mode inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry detection

A sensitive sandwich type immunoassay has been proposed with the detection by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) in a single particle mode (time resolved analysis). The signal induced by the flash of ions (¹⁹⁷Au⁺) due to the ionization of single Au-nanoparticle (Au-NP) label in the plasma torch can be measured by the mass spectrometer. The frequency of the transient signals is proportional to the concentration of Au-NPs labels. Characteristics of the signals obtained from Au-NPs of 20, 45 and 80 nm in diameters were discussed. The analytical figures for the determination of Au-labeled IgG using ICP-MS in conventional integral mode and single particle mode were compared in detail. Rabbit-anti-human IgG was used as a model analyte in the sandwich immunoassay. A detection limit (3σ) of 0.1 ng mL⁻¹ was obtained for rabbit-anti-human IgG after immunoreactions, with a linear range of 0.3-10 ng mL⁻¹ and a RSD of 8.1% (2.0 ng mL⁻¹). Finally, the proposed method was successfully applied to spiked rabbit-anti-human IgG samples and rabbit-anti-human serum samples. The method resulted to be a highly sensitive ICP-MS based sandwich type immunoassay.     

Optimization of dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction coupled with inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry with the aid of experimental design for simultaneous determination of heavy metals in natural waters

In this study, dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (DLLME) combined with inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) was developed for simultaneous preconcentration and trace determination of chromium, copper, nickel and zinc in water samples. Sodium diethyldithiocarbamate (Na-DDTC), carbon tetrachloride and methanol were used as chelating agent, extraction solvent and disperser solvent, respectively. The effective parameters of DLLME such as volume of extraction and disperser solvents, pH, concentration of salt and concentration of the chelating agent were studied by a (2^f−1) fractional factorial design to identify the most important parameters and their interactions. The results showed that concentration of salt and volume of disperser solvent had no effect on the extraction efficiency. In the next step, central composite design was used to obtain optimum levels of effective parameters. The optimal conditions were: volume of extraction solvent, 113 μL; concentration of the chelating agent, 540 mg L⁻¹; and pH, 6.70. The linear dynamic range for Cu, Ni and Zn was 1-1000 μg L⁻¹ and for Cr was 1-750 μg L⁻¹. The correlation coefficient (R²) was higher than 0.993. The limits of detection were 0.23-0.55 μg L⁻¹. The relative standard deviations (RSDs, C = 200 μg L⁻¹, n = 7) were in the range of 2.1-3.8%. The method was successfully applied to determination of Cr, Cu, Ni and Zn in the real water samples and satisfactory relative recoveries (90-99%) were achieved.     

The development of sequential injection analysis coupled with lab-on-valve for copper determination

A sequential injection analysis (SIA) using lab-on-valve with air segmentation and spectrophotometric detection was designed for copper(II) determination. It is based on the reaction of copper(II) and 2-carboxy-2′-hydroxy-5′-sulfoformazyl benzene (Zincon) in a weak alkaline solution between the air zones. Beer's Law was obeyed over the range of 0.1-2.0 mg L⁻¹ copper(II) with a correlation coefficient 0.9985 and a slope of 0.2893 absorbance unit/mg L⁻¹. The relative standard deviation was 2.0% for a series of 10 measurements of 0.5 mg L⁻¹ copper(II) solution. The detection limit (3 S/N) and the limit of quantification (LOQ) were 0.05 and 0.17 mg L⁻¹ respectively. This method has been successfully applied to determination of copper(II) in wastewater with a sample throughput of 120 h⁻¹. The method is superior to the batchwise method in that it provides fully automation, rapidity, less reagents and sample consumption with little waste generation.     

Determination of myo-inositol hexakisphosphate (phytate) in urine by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry

Myo-inositol hexakisphosphate (phytate) is a substance present in urine with an important role in preventing calcium renal calculi development. In spite of this, the use of urinary phytate levels on stone-formers’ evaluation and treatment is still notably restricted as a consequence of the enormous difficulty to analyze this substance in urine. In this paper, a simple procedure for routinary urinary phytate determination based on phosphorus determination through inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry is described.The method only requires a previous separation of phytate from other components by column anion exchange chromatography. The working linear range used was 0-2 mg l⁻¹ phosphorus (0-7 mg l⁻¹ phytate). The limit of detection was 64 μg l⁻¹ of phytate and the limit of quantification was 213 μg l⁻¹. The relative standard deviation (R.S.D.) for 1.35 mg l⁻¹ phytate was 2.4%. Different urine samples were analyzed using an alternative analytical methodology based on gas chromatography (GC)/mass detection used for inositol determination (phytate was previously hydrolyzed), resulting both methods comparable using as criterion to assess statistical significance P<0.05.     

Determination of trace iron in indium phosphide wafer by on-line matrix separation and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

A method for the determination of iron in indium phosphide (InP) wafer is proposed. In the present experiment, an on-line matrix separation system using an ion exchange column was combined with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) for the determination of ng g⁻¹ level of iron. In the on-line matrix separation, indium and iron in the sample solution was passed through a strongly-basic anion exchange resin column with the 9 M HCl carrier solution, where indium was eluted from the column and iron was adsorbed on it. Then, iron was eluted with the carrier solution of 0.3 M HCl containing 1 ng ml⁻¹ cobalt, and it was directly introduced into the ICP-MS nebulizer. In ICP-MS measurement, cobalt in the carrier solution was used as an internal standard to correct the change in sensitivity due to matrix effect, and the peak area integration was performed to quantify iron and cobalt in the integration time range of 20-60 s from the start of the cobalt solution flow. The detection limit (3σ) for iron was 3 ng g⁻¹, and the recoveries for iron in the 0.8, 2.4, and 8.0% indium solutions were almost 100%. The method was applied to the determination of iron in commercially available iron-doped InP wafers. The obtained results for InP wafer samples with the high iron concentration were in good agreement with those obtained by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GFAAS).     

Rare earth elements determined in Antarctic ice by inductively coupled plasma--time of flight, quadrupole and sector field-mass spectrometry: An inter-comparison study

Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) is a suitable tool for multi-element analysis at low concentration levels. Rare earth element (REE) determinations in standard reference materials and small volumes of molten ice core samples from Antarctica have been performed with an ICP-time of flight-MS (ICP-TOF-MS) system. Recovery rates for REE in e.g. SPS-SW1 amounted to ∼103%, and the relative standard deviations were 3.4% for replicate analysis at REE concentrations in the lower ng L⁻¹ range. Analyses of REE concentrations in Antarctic ice core samples showed that the ICP-TOF-MS technique meets the demands of restricted sample mass. The data obtained are in good agreement with ICP-Quadrupole-MS (ICP-Q-MS) and ICP-Sector Field-MS (ICP-SF-MS) results. The ICP-TOF-MS system determines accurately and precisely REE concentrations exceeding 5 ng L⁻¹ while between 0.5 and 5 ng L⁻¹ accuracy and precision are element dependent.     

Comparison of standard and reaction cell inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry in the determination of chromium and selenium species by HPLC-ICP-MS

Elemental speciation is becoming a common analytical procedure for geochemical investigations. The various redox species of environmentally relevant metals can have vastly different biogeochemical properties, including sorption, solubility, bioavailability, and toxicity. The use of high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled to elemental specific detectors, such as inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), has become one of the most important speciation methods employed. This is due to the separation versatility of HPLC and the sensitive and selective detection capabilities of ICP-MS. The current study compares standard mode ICP-MS to recently developed reaction cell (RC) ICP-MS, which has the ability to remove or reduce many common polyatomic interferences that can limit the ability of ICP-MS to quantitate certain analytes in complex matrices. Determination of chromium and selenium redox species is achieved using ion-exchange chromatography with elemental detection by standard and RC-ICP-MS, using various chromium and selenium isotopes. In this study, method performance and detection limits for the various permutations of the method (isotope monitored or ICP-MS detection mode) were found to be comparable and generally less than 1 μg L⁻¹. The method was tested on synthetic laboratory samples, surface water, groundwater, and municipal tap water matrices.     

Elimination of chloride interference on arsenic speciation in ion chromatography inductively coupled mass spectrometry using an octopole collision/reaction system

Anion-exchange chromatography with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) is often used for the speciation of arsenic (As). In this work, either He or H₂ was introduced to the octopole collision/reaction cell to eliminate chloride (Cl⁻) interferences during As speciation by ICP-MS. Polyatomic species, ⁴⁰Ar³⁵Cl and ³⁸Ar³⁷Cl, which are formed in high chloride matrices interfere with the ICP-MS detection of ⁷⁵As. These interferences were reduced or eliminated by introducing He or H₂ to the collision/reaction cell, with some loss in sensitivity when compared to the standard mode (no gas). For example, the sensitivity of As(V) was 30.4 and 17.7% of that observed in standard mode when introducing He and H₂, respectively. Chloride interference was completely eliminated using a flow rate of 3.0 mL min^− 1 with H₂ as a reaction gas with detection limits in the range of 0.3-0.6 μg L^− 1. The developed method was applied to determination of arsenic species in waters containing high concentrations of chloride by following a simple procedure and without modification of the ICP-MS instrument.     

Indirect determination of fluoride in aqueous samples by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry following precipitation of CeF3

An indirect fluoride determination method has been developed based on the ICP-AES determination of excess cerium(III) ion after precipitation. From four cations—Y(III), Sr(II), Ce(III), La(III)-cerium(III) proved to be the best precipitate forming cation in the 0-20 mg L⁻¹ fluoride concentration range with the limit of detection of 1.4 mg L⁻¹. The precision (RSD) of the proposed method is 0.71% at 8 mg L⁻¹ fluoride. The role of sulphate ions in the formation of the fluoride precipitate was studied as well. The applicability of the technique for the study of solid hazardous wastes as well as for groundwater monitoring of a fluoride contaminated area is demonstrated.     

Three-dimensional printed sample load/inject valves enabling online monitoring of extracellular calcium and zinc ions in living rat brains

We have developed a simple and low-cost flow injection system coupled to a quadruple ICP-MS for the direct and continuous determination of multi-element in microdialysates. To interface microdialysis sampling to an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICP-MS), we employed 3D printing to manufacture an as-designed sample load/inject valve featuring an in-valve sample loop for precise handling of microliter samples with a dissolved solids content of 0.9% NaCl (w/v). To demonstrate the practicality of our developed on-line system, we applied the 3D printed valve equipped a 5-μL sample loop to minimize the occurrence of salt matrix effects and facilitate an online dynamic monitoring of extracellular calcium and zinc ions in living rat brains. Under the practical condition (temporal resolution: 10 h⁻¹), dynamic profiling of these two metal ions in living rat brain extracellular fluid after probe implantation (the basal values for Ca and Zn were 12.11 ± 0.10 mg L⁻¹ and 1.87 ± 0.05 μg L⁻¹, respectively) and real-time monitoring of the physiological response to excitotoxic stress elicited upon perfusing a solution of 2.5 mM N-methyl-d-aspartate were performed.     

Determination of multi-class pesticides in wines by solid-phase extraction and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

This work reports a new sensitive multi-residue liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method for detection, confirmation and quantification of forty-six pesticides and transformation products belonging to different chemical classes in wines. The proposed method makes use of a solid-phase extraction (SPE) procedure with Oasis HLB cartridges that combines isolation of the pesticides and sample clean-up in a single step. Analysis is performed by liquid chromatography-electrospray ionisation-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) operated in the selected reaction monitoring (SRM) mode, acquiring two specific precursor-product ion transitions per target compound. An investigation of matrix effects has been performed during method validation showing medium to low effects for the majority of the compounds. Limits of detection (LODs) were in the range 0.0003–0.003 mg L⁻¹ and limits of quantification (LOQs) were in the range 0.001–0.01 mg L⁻¹. The average recoveries, measured at two concentration levels (0.010 and 0.050 mg L⁻¹), were in the range 70–110% for most of the compounds tested with % relative standard deviations below 20%, while a value of 0.010 mg L⁻¹ has been established as the method limit of quantification (MLOQ) for all target species. Expanded uncertainty values were in the range 10–40% while the Horrat ratios were below 1. The method has been successfully applied to the analysis of 60 wine samples in the course of an annual monitoring study with carbendazim-benomyl, thiophanate-methyl and carbaryl being the most frequently determined pesticides.     

Determination of picomolar beryllium levels in seawater with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry following silica-gel preconcentration

A robust and rapid method for the determination of natural levels of beryllium (Be) in seawater was developed to facilitate mapping Be concentrations in the ocean. A solid-phase extraction method using a silica gel column was applied for preconcentration and purification of Be in seawater prior to determination of Be concentrations with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Be was quantitatively adsorbed onto silica gel from solutions with pH values ranging from 6.3 to 9, including natural seawater. The chelating agent ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid was used to remove other ions in the seawater matrix (Na, Mg, and Ca) that interfere with the ICP-MS analysis. The reproducibility of the method was 3% based on triplicate analyses of natural seawater samples, and the detection limit was 0.4 pmol kg⁻¹ for 250 mL of seawater, which is sufficient for the analysis of seawater in the open ocean. The method was then used to determine the vertical profile of Be in the eastern North Pacific Ocean, which was found to be a recycled-type profile in which the Be concentration increased with depth from the surface (7.2 pmol kg⁻¹ at <200 m) to deep water (29.2 pmol kg⁻¹ from 3500 m to the bottom).     

Chitosan functionalized with di-2-propanolamine: Its application as solid phase extractant for the determination of germanium in water samples by ICP-MS

Cross-linked chitosan was chemically modified with di-2-propanolamine via an arm of chloromethyloxirane (CCTS-DPA resin). The adsorption behavior of the resin towards 62 elements was examined using a mini-column pretreatment method, and the collected elements were eluted with 1 mol L^− 1 nitric acid before measurement by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS).The CCTS-DPA resin can adsorb several metal cations and several oxoanionic elements at appropriate pH. However, di-2-propanolamine (DPA) attached to cross-linked chitosan (CCTS) showed excellent ability and selectivity for the adsorption of germanium at pH 6 to 9. The adsorption capacity of the resin for germanium (IV) was found to be 106 mg g^− 1 resin, whereas the adsorption rate constant was 9.82 × 10^− 2 min^− 1. Through the column treatment, alkali and alkaline earth matrices in river water and seawater matrices could be completely removed. The resin can also successfully remove chloride and selenium that can interfere with the direct determination of germanium by ICP-MS. The applicability of the CCTS-DPA resin was further demonstrated for the collection/preconcentration of germanium in environmental water samples and its determination by ICP-MS. The concentrations of germanium in tap water, river water and seawater samples were found in the range of 0.011 to 0.022 μg L^− 1.     

On-line preconcentration with a novel alkyl phosphinic acid extraction resin coupled with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry for determination of trace rare earth elements in seawater

A newly synthesized alkyl phosphinic acid resin (APAR) was used for on-line preconcentration of trace rare earth elements (REES, lanthanides including yttrium) and then determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. REEs in seawater could be on-line concentrated on the APAR packed column (4.6 mm i.d. × 50 mm in length), and eluted from the column with 0.5 mL 0.1 mol L⁻¹ nitric acid within 30 s. An enrichment factor of nearly 400 was achieved for all REEs when the seawater sample volume was 200 mL, while the matrix and coexisting spectrally interfering ions such as barium, tin and antimony could be simultaneously separated. The detection limits of this proposed method for REEs were in the range from 1.43 pg L⁻¹ of holmium to 12.7 pg L⁻¹ of lanthanum. The recoveries of REEs were higher than 97.9%, and the precision of the relative standard deviation (R.S.D., n = 6) was less than 5%. The method has been applied to the determination of soluble REEs in seawater.     

Trace lead measurement and on-line removal of matrix interference in seawater by isotope dilution coupled with flow injection and ICP-MS

Isotope dilution analysis method coupled with flow injection and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ID-FI-ICP-MS), enabled trace lead concentration in seawater to be determined and the high salt concentration in the matrix, such as Na⁺, Ca²⁺ and Mg²⁺, to be removed on-line. The operational parameters of the FI system including pH for the chelating reaction, concentration of 8-hydroxyquinoline-5-sulfonic acid (8-HQS), sample loading time and injection speed, washing time and speed, eluting acid concentration and eluting speed, and instrumental parameters for ICP-MS were optimized and selected. Accurate results could be achieved because the isotope ratios required can be precisely measured in the range of the eluting peak by means of ID-FI-ICP-MS. The 3σ detection limit was 0.204 ng ml⁻¹. The trace lead concentration of seawater in south Xiamen, China was 0.988 ± 0.039 ng ml⁻¹. The recoveries of spiked Pb standard in seawater and standard reference water (GBW 08607) were 97.9 and 101.0%, respectively, with a relative standard deviation of 0.98%. This method can be used to determine trace lead concentration in high salt matrix samples, and is especially useful when the eluting peaks do not have a Gaussian-distribution.     

Speciation of glyphosate, phosphate and aminomethylphosphonic acid in soil extracts by ion chromatography with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry with an octopole reaction system

Ion-pairing chromatography coupled with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) used for the speciation of phosphorus is limited as the mobile phase containing organic solvents changes in detection sensitivity and the carbon precipitates on torch and cones. To address this issue, anion-exchange chromatography with ICP-MS has been used for the speciation of glyphosate, phosphate and aminomethylphosphonic acid in soil extracts. The separation of the targets on a new column was achieved within 5 min using an eluent containing 20 mM NH₄NO₃ at pH 5.1. Furthermore, since the polyatomic ions such as ¹⁴N¹⁶O¹H⁺ and ¹⁵N¹⁶O⁺ from a nitrogen-based ion-pairing reagent interfered with ICP-MS detection of ³¹P, an octopole reaction system was investigated to determine whether the polyatomic interferences could be reduced. The results show that addition of He to the cell can benefit analyses by reducing such interferences, but at the expense of reduced sensitivity. The detection limits in the range of 1.0-1.5 μg L⁻¹ (expressed as P) was achieved when 50 μL was injected using He as the collusion gas.     

Copper determination in sugar cane spirits by fast sequential flame atomic absorption spectrometry using internal standardization

In this study, a fast and simple method is proposed for the determination of Cu in sugar cane spirits employing fast sequential flame atomic absorption spectrometry and the internal standard technique. First, Ag, Bi, Co and Ni were evaluated as internal standards to minimize transport interferences. The results demonstrated that Ag at a concentration of 2 mg L^− 1 was effective. Under these conditions, Cu could be determined with a limit of detection of 15 µg L^− 1. Then, Cu was determined in 5 sugar cane spirit samples using the proposed method and the results were compared with those obtained by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry after microwave oven acid digestion. The content of Cu varied from 0.66 to 6.64 mg L^− 1. Accuracy and precision of the proposed method were evaluated by comparing the results obtained with both methods. A paired t-test at a 95% confidence level showed that the proposed method enabled the achievement of similar results as those obtained by ICP OES after acid digestion.     

Determination of trace sulfur in biodiesel and diesel standard reference materials by isotope dilution sector field inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

A method is described for quantification of sulfur at low concentrations on the order of mg kg⁻¹ in biodiesel and diesel fuels using isotope dilution and sector field inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ID-SF-ICP-MS). Closed vessel microwave-assisted digestion was employed using a diluted nitric acid and hydrogen peroxide decomposition medium to reduce sample dilution volumes. Medium resolution mode was employed to eliminate isobaric interferences at ³²S and ³⁴S related to polyatomic phosphorus and oxygen species, and sulfur hydride species. The method outlined yielded respective limits of detection (LOD) and limits of quantification (LOQ) of 0.7 mg kg⁻¹ S and 2.5 mg kg⁻¹ S (in the sample). The LOD was constrained by instrument background counts at ³²S but was sufficient to facilitate value assignment of total S mass fraction in NIST SRM 2723b Sulfur in Diesel Fuel Oil at 9.06 ± 0.13 mg kg⁻¹. No statistically significant difference at a 95% confidence level was observed between the measured and certified values for certified reference materials NIST SRM 2773 B100 Biodiesel (Animal-Based), CENAM DRM 272b and NIST SRM 2723a Sulfur in Diesel Fuel Oil, validating method accuracy.     

Study on different pre-treatment procedures for metal determination in Orujo spirit samples by ICP-AES

In this work several pre-treatment methods were studied for metal (Na, K, Mg, Cu and Ca) determination in Orujo spirit samples using inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES). Dilution, digestion, evaporation, and cryogenic desolvatation techniques were comparatively evaluated. Because of their analytical characteristics, digestion and evaporation with nitrogen current were found to be appropriate procedures for the determination of metals in alcoholic spirit samples. Yet, if simplicity and application time are to be considered, the latter—evaporation in a water bath with a nitrogen current—stands out as the optimum procedure for any further determinations in Orujo samples by ICP-AES. Low detection levels and wide linear ranges (sufficient to determine these metals in the samples studied) were achieved for each metal. The recoveries (in the 97.5-100.5% range) and the precision (R.S.D. lower than 5.6%) obtained were also satisfactory. The selected procedure was applied to determine the content of metals in 80 representative Galician Orujo spirit samples with and without a Certified Brand of Origin (CBO) which had been produced using different distillation systems. The metal concentrations ranged between 0.37 and 79.7 mg L⁻¹ for Na, <LOD to 12.4 mg L⁻¹ for K, 0.02-4.83 mg L⁻¹ for Mg content, <LOD to 37.3 mg L⁻¹ for Cu and 0.03-13.10 mg L⁻¹ for Ca.