Determination of arsenic and antimony by microwave plasma atomic emission spectrometry coupled with hydride generation and a PTFE membrane separator

The performance of a microwave plasma torch (MPT) discharge atomic emission spectrometry (AES) system directly coupled with hydride generation (HG) for the determination of As and Sb has been studied. The argon MPT system can sustain a stable plasma over a wide range of carrier and support gas flow rates with optimum performance at 250 and 1450 ml min⁻¹, respectively. The presence of trace amount of water in the MPT discharge is found to affect the detection limits and the signal to noise ratio. A PTFE membrane separator is applied for hydride introduction and water rejection. In addition, the membrane cell separator also improves the signal to noise ratio by serving as a pressure buffer to minimize noise due to pressure fluctuation. Detection limits (3σ) of 8.1 and 3.2 ng ml⁻¹ are obtained with the analytical lines As I 228.812 nm and Sb I 259.809 nm, respectively at an MPT power of 135 W. The detection limits are improved when a concentrated sulfuric acid cell is placed after the membrane cell to further remove water. This double cell system yields detection limits of 5.3 and 2.1 ng ml⁻¹ for As and Sb, respectively under the same operating conditions. Linear dynamic ranges of three orders of magnitude could be obtained.