Electrospray ionization-ion mobility spectrometry: a rapid analytical method for aqueous nitrate and nitrite analysis

This paper reports the first example of electrospray ionization (ESI) for the separation and detection of anions in aqueous solutions by ion mobility spectrometry (IMS). Standard solutions of arsenate, phosphate, sulfate, nitrate, nitrite, chloride, formate, and acetate were analyzed using ESI-IMS and distinct peak patterns and reduced mobility constants (K(0)) were observed for respective anions. Real world water samples were analyzed for nitrate and nitrite to determine the feasibility of using ESI-IMS as a rapid analytical method for monitoring nitrate and nitrite in water systems. The data showed satisfactory correlation between the measured value ([similar]0.16 ppm) and the reported maximum nitrate-nitrogen concentration (0.2 ppm) found in a local drinking water system. For on-site measurement applications, direct sample introduction and air as an alternate drift gas to nitrogen were evaluated. The identities of the nitrite and nitrate mobility peaks were verified by comparison of reduced mobility constants with mass identified nitrate and nitrite ions reported in literature. In the mixing ratio, a linear dynamic range of 3 orders of magnitude and instrument detection limits of 10 ppb for nitrate and 40 ppb for nitrite were obtained. The calibration curves showed r(2) value of 0.98 and slope of 0.06 for nitrate and r(2) value of 0.99 and slope of 0.11 for nitrite.     

Simultaneous determination of inorganic nitrogen species by microcolumn ion chromatography

Inorganic nitrogen species (nitrate, nitrite and ammonium ions) were simultaneously determined by microcolumn ion chromatography. Nitrate and nitrite were determined by UV detection at 206 nm, whereas ammonium ion was determined by fluorescence detection at excitation 410 nm and emission 470 nm. The latter fluorescence detection is based on the postcolumn reaction of ammonium ion with o-phthalaldehyde in the presence of 2-mercaptoethanol. Effects of the reagent concentration, pH, and other reaction conditions on the signal intensity were examined, and the optimum condition was explored. The present method allowed simultaneous determination of nitrate, nitrite and ammonium ions in river water.     

Steam distillation methods for determination of ammonium,nitrate and nitrite

Steam distillation methods of determining ammonium, nitrate, and nitrite in the presence of alkali-labile organic nitrogen compounds are described. They involve the use of magnesium oxide for distillation of ammonium, ball-milled Devarda alloy for reduction of nitrate and nitrite to ammonium, and sulfamic acid for destruction of nitrite. The methods are rapid, accurate, and precise, and they permit nitrogen isotope-ratio analysis of ammonium, nitrate, and nitrite in tracer studies using ¹⁵N-enriched compounds. They give quantitative recovery of ammonium, nitrate and nitrite added to soil and plant extracts, and appear suitable for analysis of biological materials.     

High-performance ion chromatography assessment of inorganic and organic nitrogen fractions in potatoes

A new high-performance ion chromatography assay for organic and inorganic nitrogen analysis has been proposed and examined. In the devised protocol, inorganic sample constituents were measured after ultrasonically assisted water extraction. The amine and amide nitrogen content was assessed after modified Kjeldahl digestion and determined as NH₄⁺, and the total nitrogen content was quantified as NO₃⁻ after microwave-facilitated digestion. Finally, the nitro, azo, azoxy nitrogen was calculated by comparison of the total nitrogen content and all measured nitrogen species. The detection limits of the measured ions were 2.0, 0.82 and 0.17 mg L⁻¹ for nitrate, nitrite and ammonium, respectively. For samples of potatoes, the average shares of the nitrogen species found in the total nitrogen content were: 0.83% of nitrate nitrogen, <0.03% of nitrite nitrogen, 2.1% of ammonium nitrogen, 71% of nitro, azo, azoxy nitrogen, and 26% of amine, amide nitrogen. We expect the method to be applicable to different vegetable samples. The quality of the results obtained was verified by analyzing certified reference material and comparing to another analytical method.     

Spectrophotometric simultaneous determination of nitrite, nitrate and ammonium in soils by flow injection analysis

A new rapid flow injection procedure for the simultaneous determination of nitrate, nitrite and ammonium in single flow injection analysis system is proposed. The procedure combines on-line reduction of nitrate to nitrite and oxidation of ammonium to nitrite with spectrophotometric detection of nitrite by using the Griess-llosvay reaction. The formed azo dye was measured at 543 nm. The influence of reagent concentration and manifold parameters were studied. Nitrite, nitrate and ammonium can be determined within the range of 0.02–1.60 μg mL⁻¹, 0.02–1.60 μg mL⁻¹ and 0.05–1.40 μg mL⁻¹, respectively. R.S.D. values (n = 10) were 2.66; 1.41 and 3.58 for nitrate, nitrite and ammonium, respectively. This procedure allows the determination and speciation of inorganic nitrogen species in soils with a single injection in a simple way, and high sampling rate (18 h⁻¹). Detection limits of 0.013, 0.046 and 0.047 μg mL⁻¹were achieved for nitrate, nitrite and ammonium, respectively. In comparison with others methods, the proposed one is more simple, it uses as single chromogenic reagent less injection volume (250 mL in stead of 350 mL) and it has a higher sampling rate.     

Chemiluminescence nitrogen detection in ion chromatography for the determination of nitrogen-containing anions

Chemiluminescence nitrogen detection (CLND) provides equimolar response for nitrogen-containing ions such as nitrate, nitrite, cyanide, ammonium and tetradecyltrimethylammonium. Only azide yields a lower response. Nitrite, azide and nitrate are separated on a Dionex AS11 column using 5 mM NaOH as eluent with a 3 μM (1 ng N) limit of detection. Matrices, such as 1:10 diluted seawater, do not degrade these detection limits. CLND also provides equally sensitive (limit of detection 3 μM, 78 ppb) detection of weak acids such, as cyanide, which yield poor sensitivity with suppressed conductivity detection.     

A new mathematical approach for calculating the contribution of anammox, denitrification and atmosphere to an N2 mixture based on a 15N tracer technique

Denitrification and anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) have been identified as biotic key processes of N2 formation during global nitrogen cycling. Based on the principle of a 15N tracer technique, new analytical expressions have been derived for a calculation of the fractions of N2 simultaneously released by anammox and denitrification. An omnipresent contamination with atmospheric N2 is also taken into account and is furthermore calculable in terms of a fraction. Two different mathematical approaches are presented which permit a precise calculation of the contribution of anammox, denitrification, and atmosphere to a combined N2 mixture. The calculation is based on a single isotopic analysis of a sampled N2 mixture and the determination of the 15N abundance of nitrite and nitrate (simplified approach) or of ammonium, nitrite, and nitrate (comprehensive approach). Calculations are even processable under conditions where all basal educts of anammox and denitrification (ammonium, nitrite, and nitrate) are differently enriched in 15N. An additional determination of concentrations of dissolved N compounds is unnecessary. Finally, the presented approach is transferable to studies focused on terrestrial environments where N2 is formed by denitrification and simultaneously by codenitrification or chemodenitrification.     

Significance of nanomaterials in electrochemical sensors for nitrate detection: A review

Nanomaterial-enabled electrochemical sensors are designed as an economical, efficient, and user-friendly analytical tool for on-site and routine nitrate analysis over a wide range of environmental samples. The remarkable advances and tunable attributes of nanomaterials have greatly improved the analytical performance of electrochemical nitrate sensors. In this review, a comprehensive elucidation of the recent advances in nanomaterial-based electrochemical nitrate sensors is presented. The review firstly provides a general introduction, followed by typical electrochemical sensing methods. The next two sections detail various nanomaterials, including graphene derivatives, carbon nanotubes/fibers, metal/bimetal/metal oxide nanoparticles, and conducting polymers for modifying electrodes in enzymatic and non-enzymatic electrochemical nitrate sensors. Finally, the perspectives and current challenges in achieving real-world applications of nanomaterial-based electrochemical nitrate sensors are outlined.     

Electrochemical determination of nitrite and nitrate by pneumatoamperometry

Nitrite in aqueous solution is reduced to nitric oxide with hydroquinone in pH 2 phosphate buffer. The nitric oxide is swept with nitrogen to an anodically polarized membrane-covered platinum electrode, where it is oxidized to nitrate. The resulting current is linearly related to nitrite concentration in the original solution from the detection limit of 18 nmol to 5 μmol of nitrite. Nitrate is subsequently determined similarly after reduction to nitric oxide with hydroquinone in 50% sulfuric acid containing ammonium molybdate catalyst. The linear range is from the detection limit of 40 nmol to 10 μmol of nitrate.     

High-throughput nitric oxide assay in biological fluids using microchip capillary electrophoresis

In order to develop a high-throughput screening method for the nitrogen monoxide metabolites, nitrite and nitrate, in biological fluids, we have investigated the simultaneous determination of these metabolites using microchip capillary electrophoresis (MCE). In this study, the control of applied voltage to obtain higher sensitivity by increasing the sample injection volume was investigated. Also, the improvement of reproducibility by correcting the injection volume using the internal standard was investigated. By increasing the sample volume, the limits of detection achieved for nitrite and nitrate were 24 and 12 microM, respectively. Because we used a 10-fold diluted sample when detecting nitrite and nitrate in human serum, it was necessary to increase the sensitivity by a factor of 10-50. The run-to-run and day-to-day relative standard deviations achieved were improved to less than 10% by using an internal standard to correct the injection volume. Moreover, we obtained successful separation of nitrite and nitrate in spiked human serum within 6.5 s under optimum analytical conditions. As a result, although it is necessary to obtain greater sensitivity, it was concluded that determination of the amount of NO metabolites in biological fluids using MCE is possible.     

Simultaneous determination of the three main inorganic forms of nitrogen by ion chromatography

An ion chromatographic method for the determination of nitrite, nitrate and ammonium simultaneously is described. An appropriate eluent-column-detector combination for separating and detecting these ions is discussed. On a bifunctional ion-exchange column, nitrite and nitrate anions were separated by anion exchange and ammonium cation by cation exchange. Nitrite and nitrate were detected by UV spectrometry and ammonium using a chemically suppressed conductivity detector. The detection limits for the three ions were all below 0.02 ppm (w/w) and the relative standard deviations for the three ions were all less than 0.5%. Several samples such as water, soil and acid rain were analysed with this method and the recoveries of the three ions were all within 100 ± 5%. These results agreed well with those obtained by a standard method.     

The reaction of ammonium salts in molten alkali metal nitrites

The thermal decomposition of ammonium chloride and sulphate in molten alkali metal nitrite eutectics cannot be represented by a simple stoichiometry. Nitrous oxide and nitric oxide are produced as well as nitrogen and water.Thermogravimetry is complicated by loss of solid material when the extremely rapid reaction commences at temperatures just below the melting points of the nitrite eutectics and by volatilisation of unreacted ammonium compounds, largely chloride and nitrite/nitrate from reactant solutions of ammonium chloride and ammonium sulphate, respectively.     

CdS/TiO2光催化去除水体中氨氮的研究

利用溶胶-凝胶法制备了不同比率的CdS掺杂TiO₂复合纳米颗粒催化剂,并用其进行了紫外光、日光灯和太阳光全波长光催化去除水中氨氮和其它形式无机氮的对比实验研究.考察了添加催化剂的量、CdS复合比率、有氧化态氮亚硝酸根或硝酸根与氨氮共存时光催化脱氮的耦合效果、外加光源等对脱除氨氮效率的影响,并研究了后3个因素对CdS光腐蚀程度的影响.对于氨氮初始质量浓度为50mg/L的模拟废水,在通空气搅拌条件下,n(CdS):n(TiO₂)=0.17的CdS/TiO₂催化剂脱氮效果最佳,此时经紫外光照2h后脱除氨氮效率达41.5%.实验结果表明:复合催化剂中CdS的含量是影响光催化活性和光腐蚀程度的重要因素.     

Simultaneous separation of nitrate, nitrite and ammonium by capillary electrophoresis

Summary A capillary electrophoretic method for the simultaneous separation of nitrate, nitrite and ammonium has been developed. Direct (NO₃ ⁻, NO₂ ⁻) and indirect (NH₄ ⁺) UV detection at 214 nm in conjunction with electromigration sampling from both ends of the capillary was used. Two electrolyte systems based on imidazole-sulfate (pH 3.8) and copper(II)-ethylenediamine-chloride (pH 8.0) were investigated. Optimisation of the experimental parameters such as electrolyte concentration, pH, nature of the counter-ion, was studied. The method permits excellent separation of three nitrogen species in only 4 min. The analytical performance of both electrolyte systems is compared in terms of migration time and peak area repeatability and detectability. Alkaline electrolyte shows a better overall analytical performance.     

改进的离子色谱法测定乳制品中亚硝酸盐和硝酸盐

改进了国家标准方法GB 5009.33-2010《食品安全国家标准 食品中亚硝酸盐和硝酸盐的测定》中离子色谱法用于乳制品中亚硝酸盐(以亚硝酸根计)和硝酸盐(以硝酸根计)的测定方法。乳制品经水提取后,加入3%乙酸溶液沉淀蛋白,离心后上清液用反相固相萃取柱净化,以NaOH为淋洗液,加入乙腈作为有机改进剂分离亚硝酸根和硝酸根,外加水模式抑制,离子色谱分析柱为AS 19,柱温30 ℃,池温35 ℃,检测波长设定为225 nm,进样量200 μL。在上述条件下,亚硝酸盐和硝酸盐的质量浓度分别在0.005～0.50和0.05～1.50 mg/L时与色谱峰面积之间的线性关系良好。在电导检测模式下,亚硝酸盐的检出限为0.2 mg/kg,硝酸盐的检出限为0.04 mg/kg;在紫外检测模式下,两者检出限分别为0.02 mg/kg和0.01 mg/kg。将该方法用于乳制品的检测,加标回收率为84.0%～104.1%。该法简便、快速、准确,适用于乳制品中低含量亚硝酸盐和硝酸盐的检测。     

Molecular emission cavity analysis: Part 23. Determination of Nitrite and Nitrate after Conversion to Nitrogen Monoxide

Molecular emission cavity analysis is applied to the determination of nitrite and nitrate after their reduction to nitrogen monoxide by iodide or zinc. The white emission stimulated from nitrogen monoxide in an oxy-cavity placed in a hydrogen—nitrogen diffusion flame is measured at 526 nm. Calibration graphs are linear up to 300 μg N ml^-1; the detection limit is 0.5 μg N ml^-1 for nitrite and 2 μg N ml^-1 for nitrate. There are few interferences. Procedures for the determination of nitrite and nitrate in admixture are described.     

微流池多光程土壤有效态氮磷测定方法研究

农业面源氮磷污染是当前地表水体污染主要来源,而土壤有效态氮磷测试大都依赖于流动分析仪在实验室完成,无法满足个性化土壤有效态氮磷现场测定需求。建立了一种微流池多光程的土壤有效态氮磷测定技术,通过柔性化参数设置,实现不同土壤有效态氮磷测试规范和现场测试。以广东省韶关市农业科学研究所和北京市农林科学院提供的26个样品为例进行有效态铵态氮、硝态氮和磷测定验证。实验结果表明,微流池多光程土壤有效态氮磷测定方法中有效态铵态氮、硝态氮和磷的检出限(LOD)分别为0.0086、0.0094和0.0078 mg/L,相对标准偏差(RSD)分别为0.80%、5.7%和0.90%,加标回收率在92.0%~103%,平均单样品测试时间6 min。测试过程自动化,极大地提升了土壤有效态氮磷测定效率和测试结果准确性,为农业面源污染防治提供技术支撑。     

Two-dimensional nano-liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry system for applications in proteomics

Transient isotachophoresis-capillary zone electrophoresis with artificial seawater as the background electrolyte (BGE) was improved to further lower the limit of detection (LOD) for determination of nitrite and nitrate in seawater. By lowering the pH of BGE, the difference between effective mobility of nitrite and that of nitrate increased, thereby permitting increased sample volumes to be tolerated and their LOD values to decrease. Artificial seawater with pH adjusted to 3.0 using phosphate buffer was adopted as the BGE. To reverse electroosmotic flow (EOF), a capillary was flushed with 0.1 mM dilauryldimethylammonium bromide for 3 min before the capillary was filled with the BGE. Limits of detection (LODs) for nitrite and nitrate were 2.7 and 3.0 microg/l (as nitrogen), respectively. The LODs were obtained at a signal-to-noise ratio of 3. Values of the relative standard deviation (RSD) of peak area for these ions were 2.0 and 0.75%, respectively, when nitrite concentration was 0.05 mg/l and that of nitrate was 0.5 mg/l. The RSDs of peak height were 4.4 and 2.3%. The RSD values of migration time for these ions were 0.19 and 0.17%. The proposed method was applied to determination of nitrite and nitrate in a proposed certified reference material for nutrients in seawater, MOOS-1, distributed by the National Research Council of Canada. Results agreed with the assigned tolerance interval. This method was also applied to determination of these ions in seawater collected around Osaka Bay. Results nearly agreed with those obtained by a conventional spectrophotometric method.     

Molten sodium nitrite—potassium nitrite eutectic: the reaction of some compounds of molybdenum

Molybdenum(VI) oxide, ammonium molybdate and molybdic acid reacted in molten sodium nitrite—potassium nitrite eutectic to form orthomolybdate, nitrogen dioxide and nitric oxide (with nitrate as a secondary product), a more polymerised polymolybdate being formed as an intermediate product. Tungsten(VI) oxide reacted similarly but less rapidly. Molybdenum and tungsten metals reacted to form the orthoxyanion and nitrogen, the latter metal reacting considerably faster and forming smaller amounts of nitric oxide and nitrous oxide. Reaction temperatures and stoichiometries are given and reaction pathways suggested.     

Optimum conditions for effective use of the terminating ion in transient isotachophoresis for capillary zone electrophoretic determination of nitrite and nitrate in seawater,with artificial seawater as background electrolyte

We have examined transient isotachophoresis (ITP) conditions, e.g. the nature of the terminating ion, its concentration, and the injection procedure, to improve the limit of detection (LOD) for determination of nitrite and nitrate in seawater by capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE). Artificial seawater containing 3.0 mmol L(-1) cetyltrimethylammonium chloride (CTAC) was used as background electrolyte (BGE). After sample injection 600 mmol L(-1) acetate was separately injected into the capillary as the terminating ion for transient ITP. The LOD for nitrite and nitrate, obtained at a signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) of 3, were 15 and 7.0 microg L(-1) (as nitrogen), respectively. Relative standard deviations (RSD) of peak area for nitrite and nitrate were 7.3 and 0.8%, respectively, and the RSD of peak height were 5.7 and 1.2%, respectively, when the concentrations of nitrite and nitrate were 0.05 and 0.25 mg L(-1). The RSD of migration time for these ions was 0.2%. The proposed method was applied to the determination of nitrite and nitrate in seawater samples. The results for nitrite were nearly in agreement with those obtained by naphthylethylenediamine spectrophotometric analysis (SPA; correlation coefficient 0.9041).