Determination of As(III) and total inorganic arsenic by flow injection hydride generation atomic absorption spectrometry

A simple procedure was developed for the direct determination of As(III) and As(V) in water samples by flow injection hydride generation atomic absorption spectrometry (FI–HG–AAS), without pre-reduction of As(V). The flow injection system was operated in the merging zones configuration, where sample and NaBH₄ are simultaneously injected into two carrier streams, HCl and H₂O, respectively. Sample and reagent injected volumes were of 250 μl and flow rate of 3.6 ml min⁻¹ for hydrochloric acid and de-ionised water. The NaBH₄ concentration was maintained at 0.1% (w/v), it would be possible to perform arsine selective generation from As(III) and on-line arsine generation with 3.0% (w/v) NaBH₄ to obtain total arsenic concentration. As(V) was calculated as the difference between total As and As(III). Both procedures were tolerant to potential interference. So, interference such as Fe(III), Cu(II), Ni(II), Sb(III), Sn(II) and Se(IV) could, at an As(III) level of 0.1 mg l⁻¹, be tolerated at a weight excess of 5000, 5000, 500, 100, 10 and 5 times, respectively. With the proposed procedure, detection limits of 0.3 ng ml⁻¹ for As(III) and 0.5 ng ml⁻¹ for As(V) were achieved. The relative standard deviations were of 2.3% for 0.1 mg l⁻¹ As(III) and 2.0% for 0.1 mg l⁻¹ As(V). A sampling rate of about 120 determinations per hour was achieved, requiring 30 ml of NaBH₄ and waste generation in order of 450 ml. The method was shown to be satisfactory for determination of traces arsenic in water samples. The assay of a certified drinking water sample was 81.7±1.7 μg l⁻¹ (certified value 80.0±0.5 μg l⁻¹).     

Efficiency and mechanism of new poly(acryl-phenylamidrazone phenylhydrazide) chelating fiber for adsorbing trace Ga, In, Bi, V and Ti from solution

A new po1y(acrylphenylamidrazone phenylhydrazide) chelating fiber is synthesized from polyacrylonitrile fiber and used for preconcentration and separation of trace Ga(III), In(III), Bi(III), V(V) and Ti(IV) from solution (5–50 ng ml⁻¹ Ti(IV) or V(V) and 50–500 ng ml⁻¹ Ga(III), In (III) or Bi(III) in 1000–100 ml of solution can be enriched quantitatively by 0.15 g of fiber at a 4 ml min⁻¹ flow rate in the pH range 5–7 with recoveries >95%). These ions can be desorbed quantitatively with 20 ml of 4 M hydrochloric acid at 2 ml min⁻¹ from the fiber column. When the fiber which had been treated with concentrated hydrochloric acid and washed with distilled water until neutral was reused eight times, the recoveries of the above ions by enrichment were still >95%. Two-hundred-fold to 10 000-fold excesses of Cu(II), Zn(II), Ca(II), Mn(II), Cr(III), Fe(III), Ba(II) and Al(III) caused little interference in the determination of these ions by inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometers (ICP-AES). The relative standard deviations for enrichment and determination of 50 ng ml⁻¹ Ga, In or Bi and 10 ng ml⁻¹ V or Ti are in the range 1.2–2.7%. The contents of these ions in real solution samples determined by this method were in agreement with the certified values of the samples with average errors <3.7%.     

Simultaneous determination of trace arsenic, antimony, bismuth and selenium in biological samples by hydride generation-four-channel atomic fluorescence spectrometry

A new and sample technique for the simultaneous determination of trace arsenic, antimony, bismuth and selenium in biologic samples by hydride generation-four-channel nondispersive atomic fluorescence spectrometry was development. The conditions of instrumentation and hydride generation of arsenic, antimony, bismuth and selenium were optimized. For reducing hexavalent Se to the tetravalent state was to heat the sample with 6 mol l⁻¹ HCl, and then pre-reducing pentavalent As and Sb to the trivalent state was achieved by the addition of 0.05 mol l⁻¹ thiourea. The interferences of coexisting ions were evaluated. Under optimal conditions, the detection limits for As, Sb, Bi and Se were determined to be 0.03, 0.04, 0.04 and 0.03 ng ml⁻¹, respectively. The precision for seven replicate determinations at the 5 ng ml⁻¹ of As, Sb, Bi and Se were 0.9, 1.2, 1.3 and 1.5% (R.S.D.), respectively. The proposed method was successfully applied to the simultaneous determination of As, Sb, Bi and Se in a series of Chinese certified biological reference materials using simple aqueous standard calibration technique, the results obtained are in good agreement with the certified values.     

Speciation analysis of arsenic and selenium compounds in environmental and biological samples by ion chromatography-inductively coupled plasma dynamic reaction cell mass spectrometer

An inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICP-MS) was used as an ion chromatographic (IC) detector for the speciation analysis of arsenic and selenium. The arsenic and selenium species studied included arsenite [As(III)], arsenate [As(V)], monomethylarsonic acid (MMA), dimethylarsinic acid (DMA), arsenobetaine (AsB), selenite [Se(IV)] and selenate [Se(VI)]. Gradient elution using (NH₄)₂CO₃ and methanol at pH 9 allowed the chromatographic separation of all species in less than 12 min. Effluents from the IC column were delivered to the nebulization system of ICP-DRC-MS for the determination of arsenic and selenium. The potentially interfering ³⁸Ar⁴⁰Ar⁺ and ⁴⁰Ar⁴⁰Ar⁺ at the selenium masses m/z 78 and 80 were reduced in intensity by approximately 3 orders of magnitude by using 0.6 mL min⁻¹ CH₄ as reactive cell gas in the DRC while an Rpq value of 0.3 was used. Meanwhile, arsenic was determined as the adduct ion ⁷⁵As¹²CHH⁺ at m/z 89, which is more sensitive than ⁷⁵As. The limits of detection for arsenic and selenium were in the range of 0.002–0.01 ng mL⁻¹ and 0.01–0.02 ng mL⁻¹, respectively, based on peak height. The relative standard deviation of the peak areas for five injections of 5 ng mL⁻¹ As and Se mixture was in the range of 2–4%. The concentrations of arsenic and selenium species have been determined in urine samples collected locally. The major As and Se species in urines were AsB, DMA and probably selenosugar at concentration of 20–40, 15–19 and 17–31 ng mL⁻¹, respectively. The recoveries were in the range of 94–105% for all the determinations. This method has also been applied to determine various arsenic compounds in two fish samples. In this study, a simple and rapid microwave-assisted extraction method was used for the extraction of arsenic compounds from fish. The arsenic species were quantitatively leached with an 80% v/v methanol solution in a focused microwave field during a period of 5 min.     

Application of a new resin functionalised with 6-mercaptopurine for mercury and silver determination in environmental samples by atomic absorption spectrometry

Polystyrene–divinylbenzene (8%) has been functionalised by coupling it through an ---N=N--- group with 6-mercaptopurine. The resulting chelating resin has been characterised by using elemental analysis, thermogravimetric analysis and infrared spectra. The resin is highly selective for Hg(II) and Ag(I) and has been used for preconcentrating Hg(II) and Ag(I) prior to their determination by atomic absorption spectrometry. The maximum sorption capacity for Hg(II) and Ag(I) was found to be 1.74 and 0.52 mmol g⁻¹, respectively, over the pH range 5.5–6.0. The calibration range for Hg(II) was linear up to 10 ng ml⁻¹ with a 3σ detection limit of 0.02 ng ml⁻¹; the calibration range for Ag(I) was linear up to 5 μg ml⁻¹ with a detection limit of 29 ng ml⁻¹. The recoveries of the metals were found to be 99.7±3.8 and 101.3±4.1% at the 95% confidence level for both Hg(II) and Ag(I). In column operation, it has been observed that Hg(II) and Ag(I) in trace quantities can be selectively separated from geological, medicinal and environmental samples.     

Homogeneous stopped-flow fluoroimmunoassay using europium as label

A competitive homogeneous fluoroimmunoassay (FIA) based on the use of europium(III) as label together with kinetic methodology, is described for the first time. This approach has been applied to the determination of skatole, a compound causing boar-taint, in pig back fat samples. The analytical signal was obtained by measuring the initial rate of the dissociation reaction of europium(III) from the tracer through the formation of an intense luminescent chelate. This initial rate is higher for the free tracer than for that corresponding to the tracer bound to the antibody, and it is directly related to the analyte concentration. Each kinetic measurement was obtained in less than 1 s by using stopped-flow (SF) mixing technique. Benzoyltrifluoroacetone, tri-n-octylphosphine and Triton X-100 were used to obtain an adequate luminescent signal. The dynamic range of the calibration graph of the method is 30–300 ng ml⁻¹ and the calculated detection limit is 11 ng ml⁻¹. The precision, obtained for two skatole concentrations, 50 and 150 ng ml⁻¹, and expressed as relative standard deviation (n=11), was lower than 6.5%. The method was applied to the analysis of pig back fat samples with recoveries ranging from 92 to 108%.     

Indirect determination of ascorbic acid by solid-phase spectrophotometry

Solid-phase spectrophotometry (SPS) technique, in the visible region, was used for the spectrophotometric determination of ascorbic acid based on the reducing effect on iron(III) ion, followed by formation of the iron(II)-ferrozine chelate. The chelate is easily sorbed on a dextran-type anion-exchange gel and the absorbance of the resin at 567 and 800 nm, packed in a 1 mm cell, is measured directly. The apparent molar absorptivity using 100 ml of sample was 2.1×10⁷ l mol⁻¹ cm⁻¹ and it allowed the determination of ascorbic acid in the range 5–90 ng ml⁻¹; the detection limit was 0.91 ng ml⁻¹ and the RSD 0.91% for a concentration of 50 ng ml⁻¹ of ascorbic acid (n=10). The proposed method permits a highly sensitive and selective determination of ascorbic acid without any preconcentration and it has been satisfactorily applied for its determination in fruit juices, pharmaceuticals, urine and conservative liquids.     

A rapid and sensitive immunonanogold resonance scattering spectral probe for complement 3

Gold nanoparticles in size of about 10 nm was used to label goat anti-human complement 3 (anti-C3) to obtain a sensitive and selective immunoresonance scattering spectral probe for C3. It was based on the immune reaction between labeled anti-C3 and C3 in the pH 5.6 Na₂HPO₄–citric acid buffer solutions and in presence of polyethylene glycol (PEG). The resonance scattering (RS) intensity at 560 nm enhanced greatly with C3. Well linear relationships between the enhanced RS intensity (I_RS) and the C3 concentration in the range of 8.33–200 ng ml⁻¹ were obtained, with a detection limit of 2.8 ng ml⁻¹ and the limit of quantification 8.51 ng ml⁻¹ for C3. The convenient and selective and sensitive assay was applied to quantification of C3 in human sera, with satisfactory results.     

Development and application of a capillary electrophoresis-electrochemiluminescent method for the analysis of enrofloxacin and its metabolite ciprofloxacin in milk

Enrofloxacin (ENR) is a fluoroquinolone developed exclusively for the use in veterinary practice for the treatment of respiratory and gastrointestinal infections, and ciprofloxacin (CIP) is its main active metabolite. Their contents are regulated by the EU Council Regulation no. 2377/90 in animal edible tissues. We developed a sensitive and rapid method for the determination of ENR and CIP by capillary electrophoresis (CE) with electrochemiluminescence (ECL) detection. The method is based on the detection of aliphatic tertiary or secondary amino moieties in ENR and CIP with end-column tris(2,2-bipyridyl)ruthenium(II) electrochemiluminescence. Parameters that affect separation and detection were optimized. Under the optimized conditions, the calibration functions were linear in the range of 0.03–1 μg ml⁻¹ for ENR and 0.05–1.2 μg ml⁻¹ for CIP. The detection limits of ENR and CIR were 10 ng ml⁻¹ and 15 ng ml⁻¹, respectively, based on the signal-to-noise ratio of 3. The relative standard derivations of the peak height and the migration time for ENR and CIP were less than 4.13%. The developed method was successfully applied to determine ENR and CIP in milk with a solid-phase extraction procedure.     

A flow-injection renewable surface sensor for the fluorimetric determination of vanadium(V) with Alizarin Red S

Vanadium(V) is determined by a simple bead injection spectroscopy–flow-injection analysis (BIS–FIA) system with spectrofluorimetric detection using a commercially available flow cell (Hellma 176-QS). The 500 μl of a homogeneous bead suspension of an anionic resin (Sephadex QAE A-25) previously loaded with the fluorogenic reagent 1,2-dihydroxyanthraquinone-3-sulfonic acid (Alizarin Red S) was injected to fill the flow cell. Next, V(V) is injected into the carrier and reacts with the immobilized reagent on the active solid support placed in the flow cell to form a fluorescent chelate in the absence of surfactant agents. The complex is so strongly retained on the beads that the regeneration of the solid support becomes extraordinarily difficult, so needing the renovation of the sensing surface which is achieved by means of bead injection. At the end of the analysis, beads are automatically discarded from the flow cell and transported out of the system by reversing the flow.

The measurement of fluorescence is continuously performed at an excitation wavelength of 521 nm and an emission wavelength of 617 nm. Using a low sample volume of 800 μl, the analytical signal showed a very good linearity in the range 2–60 ng ml⁻¹, with a detection limit of 0.45 ng ml⁻¹ and a R.S.D. (%) of 4.22 for 50 ng ml⁻¹ of V(V) concentration (n = 10). The sensor showed both a good selectivity, which could also be increased by the addition of EDTA and F⁻ as masking agents, and applicability to the determination of V(V) in waters, physiological samples (serum and urine) and mussel tissues.     

A simple and sensitive assay of nucleic acids based on the enhanced resonance light scattering of zwitterionics

A new assay of nucleic acids at nanogram level was established based on the enhanced resonance light scattering (RLS) signals of two zwitterionics cocamidopropyl hydroxysultaine (HSB) and lauryl betaine (BS-12). Under optimum conditions, the weak RLS signal of HSB is enhanced by nucleic acids, and the enhanced RLS intensity is proportional to the concentration of nucleic acids in the range of 0.02–7.3 mg l⁻¹ for calf thymus DNA and 0.01–8.6 mg l⁻¹ for fish sperm DNA. The detection limits were 1.5 ng ml⁻¹ for calf thymus DNA and 1.9 ng ml⁻¹ for fish sperm DNA. Plasmid DNA extracted from K-12-HB101 colt was determined with satisfactory results.     

Flow injection determination of nitrite by fluorescence quenching

A simple, sensitive and selective fluorimetric method for the determination of nitrite ion in waters using a merging zones flow injection system is described. The fluorimetric determination is based on the measurement of the quenching effect produced by nitrite on proflavine (3,6-diaminoacridine) fluorescence (λ_ex/λ_em=290/519 nm).

The optimum experimental conditions were investigated by merging 0.5 ml of the sample and 0.5 ml of a solution of 5 mg l⁻¹ of proflavine (in 0.1 M HCl) in a flow injection system, on-line connected to a flow-cell placed in the conventional sample compartment of a spectrofluorimeter. The selected carrier solution and final flow rate were 0.1 M HCl and 0.5 ml min⁻¹, respectively. A reaction coil of 2 ml was used. As a result of the simplicity of this system, a sample throughput of about 50 samples h⁻¹ can be achieved with the proposed methodology.

The detection limit was 1.1 ng ml⁻¹ (3σ criterion) of nitrite. The repeatability for five sample injections containing 100 ng ml⁻¹ of nitrite was ±0.3% and the observed linear range extended up to 400 ng ml⁻¹. Also, the effect of interferences from various metals and anions commonly present in waters was also studied.

The method was successfully applied to the determination of low levels of nitrite in different water samples (river, fountain, tap and commercial drinking waters).     

HPLC determination of Vitamin D(3) and its metabolite in human plasma with on-line sample cleanup

A HPLC method with automated column switching and UV-diode array detection is described for the simultaneous determination of Vitamin D₃ and 25-hydroxyvitamin D₃ (25-OH-D₃) in a sample of human plasma. The system uses a BioTrap precolumn for the on-line sample cleanup. A sample of 1 ml of human plasma was treated with 2 ml of a mixture of ethanol–acetonitrile (2:1 (v/v)). Following centrifugation, the supernatant was evaporated to dryness under a stream of dry and pure nitrogen. The residue was reconstituted in 250 μL of a solution of methanol 5 mmol l⁻¹ phosphate buffer, pH 6.5 (4:1 (v/v)), and a 200 μl aliquot of this solution was injected onto the BioTrap precolumn. After washing during 5 min with a mobile phase constituted by a solution of 6% acetonitrile in 5 mmol l⁻¹ phosphate buffer, pH 6.5 (extraction mobile phase), the retained analytes were then transferred to the analytical column in the backflush mode. The analytical separation was then performed by reverse-phase chromatography in the gradient elution mode with the solvents A and B (Solvent A: acetonitrile–phosphate buffer 5 mmol l⁻¹, pH 6.5; 20:80 (v/v); solvent B: methanol–acetonitrile–tetrahydrofuran, 65:20:15 (v/v)). The compounds of interest were detected at 265 nm. The method was linear in the range 3.0–32.0 ng ml⁻¹ with a limit of quantification of 3.0 ng ml⁻¹. Quantitative recoveries from spiked plasma samples were between 91.0 and 98.0%. In all cases, the coefficient of variation (CV) of the intra-day and inter-day-assay precision was ≤2.80%. The proposed method permitted the simultaneous determination of Vitamin D₃ and 25-OH-D₃ in 16 min, with an adequate precision and sensitivity. However, the overlap of the sample cleanup step with the analysis increases the sampling frequency to five samples h⁻¹. The method was successfully applied for the determination of Vitamin D₃ and 25-OH-D₃ in plasma from 46 female volunteers, ranging from 50 to 94 years old. Vitamin D₃ and 25-OH-D₃ concentrations in plasma were found from 4.30–40.70 ng ml⁻¹ (19.74 ± 9.48 ng ml⁻¹) and 3.1–36.52 ng ml⁻¹ (7.13 ± 7.80 ng ml⁻¹), respectively. These results were in good agreement with data published by other authors.     

Development of an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for pentachlorophenol

Pentachlorophenol (PCP) is a hazardous pollutant with toxicity and potential carcinogenic properties being a serious threat to the environment. In this work, the development of an immunoassay for PCP is presented. A hapten was synthesised and conjugated to protein for rabbit immunisation. Three polyclonal antibodies were obtained and the best results were achieved in the antibody-coated format using antiserum R3. Calibration range was 0.3–30.5 ng ml⁻¹, with an average I₅₀ value of 2.9 ng ml⁻¹ and a detection limit of 0.1 ng ml⁻¹. The specificity of the assay was tested against PCP structurally related compounds. The method is highly specific for PCP and shows low cross-reactivity (CR) for chlorine-containing phenols, nitrophenols, benzenic and piridinic compounds. The good recoveries achieved with different water samples indicate that this assay can be a good alternative method for the determination of PCP in this kind of samples.     

High-performance liquid chromatographic assay of phosphate and organophosphorus pesticides using a post-column photochemical reaction and fluorimetric detection

A sensitive method for the post-column reaction detection of organophosphorus pesticides is described. The method relies on photolysis of the organocompounds by irradiation with a low-pressure mercury lamp (main spectral line, 254 nm) in the presence of peroxydisulfate. The resultant orthophosphate was reacted with molybdate to form molybdophosphoric acid, which subsequently reacted with thiamine to generate thiochrome. Finally, the fluorescence intensity of thiochrome was measured at 440 nm with excitation at 375 nm. Factors affecting the rate of these reactions were optimized so that its contribution to the total band-broadening was negligible.

This detection system was used for the determination of phosphate, acephate and methamidophos, which were separated on an ODS column by isocratic reversed phase chromatography with acetonitrile–water as the mobile phase. A linear relationship between analyte concentration and peak area was obtained within the range 0.016–7.0 μg ml⁻¹ with correlation coefficients greater than 0.9995 and detection limits between 4 and 12 ng ml⁻¹. Intra- and inter-day precision values of about 1.2% R.S.D. (n = 10) and 2.1% R.S.D. (n = 30), respectively, were obtained.

Pesticide residues below ng ml⁻¹ levels could be determined in environmental waters when a preconcentration device was coupled on-line with the HPLC system. Detection limits as low as 0.01 ng ml⁻¹ were achieved for only 250 ml of sample. In the analyses of vegetables and grains, the detection limit was about 1 μg kg⁻¹.     

1-(2,3,4-Trihydroxybenzylideneamino)-8-hydroxynaphthalene-3,6-disulfonic acid as reagent for spectrophotometric determination of boron in plants

A highly sensitive and selective method has been developed for spectrophotometric determination of boron in plants, the method based on the color reaction of new reagent 1-(2,3,4-trihydroxybenzylideneamino)-8-hydroxynaphthalene-3,6-disulfonic acid (THBA) with boron (III). In an ammonium acetate solution of pH 8.0, boron(III) reacts with THBA to form a 1:2 yellow complex which has a maximum absorption peak at 430 nm. The reaction can complete within 90 min and the absorbance of the complex remains maximum and almost constant at least for 24 h under a temperature range from 0 to 35 °C. The apparent molar absorptivity and Sandell's sensitivity are 2.95 × 10⁴ l mol⁻¹ cm⁻¹ and 0.00036 ng cm⁻², respectively. The limit of quantification, limit of detection and relative standard deviations were found to be 5.1, 1.5 ng ml⁻¹ and 1.12%, respectively. Under the optimum conditions, the absorbency of the complex (λ_max = 430 nm) increases linearly with concentration up to 0.8 μg ml⁻¹ of boron(III). The influences of foreign ions on the determination of boron were investigated in detail. Most of foreign ions can be tolerated in considerable amounts. Experiments have indicated that THBA as chromogenic reagent for spectrophotometric determination of boron has excellent analytical characteristics. Its sensitivity is more than 4.2-fold that of azomethine-H, and stability is advantage over other derivatives of azomehine-H remarkably. Moreover, the synthesis of THBA and its physicochemical properties of THBA were also investigated in detail. Proposed method has been applied to the determination of boron in plants with satisfactory results.     

Direct determination of arsenic in acid digests of plant and peat samples using HG-AAS and ICP-SF-MS

A new analytical procedure for the reliable and direct determination of arsenic (As) in nitric acid digests of ombrotrophic peat samples in the low ng l⁻¹ range has been developed based on hydride generation-atomic absorption spectrometry (HG-AAS). The pre-reduction capabilities of KI/ascorbic acid and of l-cysteine in nitric acid digests of peat and plant samples for the conversion of As(V) to As(III) were tested systematically. Samples were digested with high purity nitric acid in a high-pressure microwave autoclave at 240 °C and subsequently measured using HG-AAS or ICP-SF-MS (inductively coupled plasma-sector field-mass spectrometry). Using KI/ascorbic acid as pre-reductant, the accuracy and precision were poor when digests of complex matrices, such as peat were analyzed for As by HG-AAS. However, 10 g l⁻¹ l-cysteine was successfully employed as pre-reductant in diluted nitric acid digests (3%, v/v) of peat samples prior to hydride generation of As with 0.5% (m/v) of NaBH₄ and 7 mol l⁻¹ HCl. The analytical procedure was critically evaluated by analyzing several certified plant reference materials, two in-house peat reference materials and by the determination of As in diluted digests of peat samples with ICP-SF-MS. The results for the determination of As in various peat and plant materials showed excellent agreement with the reference values. The method detection limits for the determination of As by the optimized HG-AAS procedure and by ICP-SF-MS were 23 ng g⁻¹ and 1.4 ng g⁻¹ in solid peat, respectively. The newly developed analytical procedure was applied to the determination of As in selected peat samples. Results for As in these peat samples obtained by the developed HG-AAS procedure and the optimized procedure for the determination of As with ICP-SF-MS were highly correlated (R² = 0.993, n = 12).     

Preconcentration and determination of inorganic arsenic using a multisyringe flow injection system and hydride generation-atomic fluorescence spectrometry

A new multisyringe flow injection system for inorganic arsenic determination at trace levels by hydride generation-atomic fluorescence spectrometry (HGAFS) is presented. Preconcentration on a solid-phase was carried out using a column packed with an anion-exchange resin (Amberlite IRA-410). The reagents are dispensed to the system using a multisyringe burette coupled with two multi-port selection valves.

Different parameters were changing in order to make the system as effective as possible. An analytical curve was obtained for arsenic determination between 50 and 2000 ng l⁻¹. This new approach improved five times the sensitivity over a MSFIA–HGAFS technique developed previously by the authors. Detection limit of the proposed technique was (3σ_b/S) of 30 ng l⁻¹. The relative standard deviation (R.S.D.) of As at 1 μg l⁻¹ was 4.8% (n=7). A sample throughput of 10 h⁻¹ has been achieved. The proposed method has been applied to different reference solid and water materials with satisfactory results.     

Reverse flow injection spectrophotometric determination of iron(III) using chlortetracycline reagent

A simple reversed flow injection colourimetric procedure for determining iron(III) was proposed. It is based on the reaction between iron(III) with chlortetracycline, resulting in an intense yellow complex with a suitable absorption at 435 nm. A 200 μl chlortetracycline reagent solution was injected into the phosphate buffer stream (flow rate 2.0 ml min⁻¹) which was then merged with iron(III) standard or sample in dilute nitric acid stream (flow rate 1.5 ml min⁻¹). Optimum conditions for determining iron(III) were investigated by univariate method. Under the optimum conditions, a linear calibration graph was obtained over the range 0.5–20.0 μg ml⁻¹. The detection limit (3σ) and the quantification limit (10σ) were 0.10 and 0.82 μg ml⁻¹, respectively. The relatives standard deviation of the proposed method calculated from 12 replicate injections of 2.0 and 10.0 μg ml⁻¹ iron(III) were 0.43 and 0.59%, respectively. The sample throughput was 60 h⁻¹. The proposed method has been satisfactorily applied to the determination of iron(III) in natural waters.     

Extending the dynamic range of copper determination in differential pulse adsorption cathodic stripping voltammetry using wavelet neural network

A wavelet neural network (WNN) model is proposed for extending the dynamic range of Cu(II) determination by differential pulse adsorption cathodic stripping voltammetry (DP-AdSV) using xylenol orange (XO) as a suitable ligand. All of voltammograms data consisting of Cu(II) and Cu(II)–XO peak currents were used in WNN model. The WNN model consisted of three layers (2-8-1) with the Morlet mother wavelet transfer function in the hidden layer. The model was able to extend the dynamic range of Cu(II) from its narrow linear range (1–50 ng ml⁻¹) to the higher dynamic range (1–1500 ng ml⁻¹). The results of the WNN model was also compared with artificial neural network (ANN) model and it was demonstrated the superiority of the WNN model relative to ANN model.