Rapid speciation of trace iron in rainwater by reverse flow injection analysis coupled to a long path length liquid waveguide capillary cell and spectrophotometric detection

A method for speciation and determination of low levels of dissolved iron in rainwater was established by coupling reverse flow injection analysis with a 2-m liquid waveguide capillary cell and spectrophotometric detection. Ferrozine solution was injected into a sample stream to form an Fe(II)-ferrozine complex with Fe(II), and the absorbance of this complex was detected at both 562 nm and 625 nm with a reference wavelength at 700 nm. Fe(III) was analyzed in the same manner after being reduced to Fe(II) by ascorbic acid. The optimum conditions and the interference of Cu(I), Ni(II) and Co(II) were investigated. The limits of detection were 0.1 nM for Fe(II) and 0.2 nM for Fe(III), while the linear ranges were 0.4 – 200 nM for Fe(II) and 0.8 – 287 nM for Fe(III) at 562 nm, and can be extended to higher concentrations with the detection at a less sensitive wavelength of 625 nm. The sample throughput was 6 h^?1, and the total sample volume consumed was 10 mL. This method has been successfully applied to analyze dissolved iron in rainwater of Xiamen from August to November, 2008. The lowest level of iron in rainwater was observed during typhoon events. By adopting reverse flow injection analysis coupled with liquid waveguide long path length capillary cell, the reagent consumption was low and the sensitivity was enhanced. The other advantages of this method are high sample throughput, wide linear dynamic range and high selectivity for Fe(II).     

Phase transfer membrane supported liquid-liquid-liquid microextraction combined with large volume sample injection capillary electrophoresis-ultraviolet detection for the speciation of inorganic and organic mercury

In this paper, a novel sample pretreatment technique termed phase transfer based liquid-liquid-liquid microextraction (PT-LLLME) was proposed for the simultaneous extraction of inorganic and organic mercury species. In PT-LLLME, an intermediate solvent (acetonitrile) was added into the donor phase to improve the contacting between target mercury species and complexing reagent. Meanwhile, a membrane supported (MS)-LLLME unit was designed to realize the PT-LLLME procedure. By using nylon membrane as supporting carrier, larger than 50 μL of acceptor solution could be hung up. Following PT/MS-LLLME, the acceptor solutions were directly analyzed by large volume sample stacking capillary electrophoresis/ultraviolet detection (LVSS-CE/UV). Accordingly, a new method of PT/MS-LLLME combined with LVSS-CE/UV was developed for the simultaneous speciation of inorganic and organic mercury species. Parameters affecting the extraction efficiency of PT/MS-LLLME were investigated in details. Under the optimized conditions, enrichment factors (EFs) ranging from 160- to 478-fold were obtained for the extraction of target mercury species by PT/MS-LLLME. By combining PT/MS-LLLME with LVSS-CE/UV, EFs were magnified up to 12,138-fold and the limits of detection (at a signal-to-noise ratio of 3) were at sub ppb level. The established approach of PT/MS-LLLME-LVSS-CE/UV was successfully applied to simultaneous determination of inorganic and organic mercury species in biological samples and environmental water samples.     

Nano-gold capillary immunochromatographic assay for parvalbumin

A novel non-instrumental bioanalysis based on colloidal-gold immunochromatography in a modified glass capillary was developed and named capillary immunochromatographic assay (CICA). In this report, glass capillary was proposed as a support in immunochromatographic assay because of its excellent characteristics. Goat anti-rabbit IgG and parvalbumin (PV) were immobilized on the inner wall of the glass capillary as control zone and test zone, respectively. The CICA was constructed, and main variables for the performance were optimized. Using an important allergen of fish products (parvalbumin, PV) as the target, the analytical efficiency of the developed technique was investigated and the visual detection limit (VDL) and semi-quantitative limit of detection (LOD) were estimated to be 70 ng mL^?1 and 40 ng mL^?1, respectively. The coefficient of variation (CV) for the intra-assay and inter-assay was calculated for the PV concentration of 50 ng mL^?1, and the entire operation, including sample preparation, was consistently performed in 30 min. The developed technique was implemented and validated with different foodstuffs, including Scophthalmus maximus (Linnaeus), surimi products, and livestock, confirming sufficient accuracy and precision of results and verifying the method to be efficacious. These results enabled us to propose CICA as a new and promising technique for simple, rapid, and on-site screening of PV in biological samples. Graphical abstract

The scheme of the CICA system: (a) the control zone and test zone on the capillary, (b) negative results and (c) positive results     

Determination of Arsenic,Mercury and Barium in Herbarium Mount Paper Using Dynamic Ultrasound-Assisted Extraction Prior to Atomic Fluorescence and Absorption Spectrometry

A dynamic ultrasound-assisted extraction method using Atomic Absorption and Atomic Fluorescence spectrometers as detectors was developed to analyze mercury, arsenic, and barium from herbarium mount paper originating from the herbarium collection of the National Museum of Wales. The variables influencing extraction were optimized by a multivariate approach. The optimal conditions were found to be 1% HNO₃ extractant solution used at a flow rate of 1 mL min^?1. The duty cycle and amplitude of the ultrasonic probe was found to be 50% in both cases with an ultrasound power of 400 W. The optimal distance between the probe and the top face of the extraction chamber was found to be 0 cm. Under these conditions the time required for complete extraction of the three analytes was 25 min. Cold vapor and hydride generation coupled to atomic fluorescence spectrometry was utilized to determine mercury and arsenic, respectively. The chemical and instrumental conditions were optimized to provide detection limits of 0.01 ng g^?1 and 1.25 ng g^?1 for mercury and arsenic, respectively. Barium was determined by graphite-furnace atomic absorption spectrometry, with a detection limit of 25 ng g^?1. By using 0.5 g of sample, the concentrations of the target analytes varied for the different types of paper and ranged between 0.4–2.55 µg g^?1 for Ba, 0.035–10.47 µg g^?1 for As, and 0.0046–2.37 µg g^?1 for Hg.     

Development of a method for speciation of inorganic arsenic in waters using solid phase extraction and electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry

A solid phase extraction (SPE) procedure based on Amberlite IRA 900 resin was developed for speciation and separation of inorganic arsenic species (III, V) and total As in water samples. The As species and total As in eluent solutions were determined by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry (ETAAS) using Ni chemical modifier with 1200°C pyrolysis temperature. Experimental parameters such as pH value, sample volume, flow rate, volume and concentration of eluent solution for As(V) were optimised and 98.0 ± 1.9% recovery was found at pH 4.0. Experimental adsorption capacity of the resin for As(V) was investigated and 229.9 mg g^–1 was found. Under optimised experimental conditions, instrumental parameters such as limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) found were 0.126 and 0.420 µg L^–1, respectively. Interference effects of coexisting ions in the sample matrix on the recovery of As(V) were investigated. Concentration of As(III) was obtained by subtracting As(V) concentration found at pH 4.0 from total As(III + V) found at pH 8.0. The accuracy of the method proposed by using the resin was tested for analysing As species in a waste water standard reference material (SRM, CWW-TM-D) and spiked real water samples with recovery above 95%. The method proposed was also applied to the determinations of As species and total As in underground hot waters and tap water with relative error below 3%.     

Indirect Mercury Speciation in Biological Tissues by Closed‐Vessel Microwave‐Assisted Digestion and Flow‐Injection Cold‐Vapor Atomic Fluorescence Detection

Abstract

A simple and rapid method based on closed vessel microwave‐assisted extraction was developed to determine total, inorganic mercury and organomercury in biological tissues. Total mercury was extracted using HNO₃:H₂O₂ (4:1) mixture. In a separate subsample, extraction of mercury species was carried out with tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH). The total and inorganic mercury analyses were carried out by flow‐injection cold‐vapor atomic fluorescence spectrometry (FI‐CV‐AFS). The organomercury concentration was calculated by difference. Considering a sample amount of 0.2 g, the detection limits were 4 and 26 ng/g for total and inorganic mercury, respectively. The accuracy of the procedures was checked by analyzing certified reference materials and recovery studies of spiked fish tissues.     

Large-Volume Sample Stacking with Polarity Switching in CE for Determination of Natural Polyphenols in Plant Extracts

A simple on-column preconcentration method for capillary electrophoretic determination of eight polyphenolic compounds (carnosic acid, cinnamic acid, caffeic acid and rosmarinic acid, quercetin, apigenin, luteolin and rutin) was devised. The method was applied for the assay of polyphenols in methanolic extract of the medicinal plant Orthosiphon Stamineus Benth. The analysis was carried out in fused silica capillaries (I.D. 50 μm, effective length 50 cm, total length 60 cm) with UV detection at 200 nm. The background electrolyte was 50 mM sodium tetraborate of pH 9.0 (adjusted with phosphoric acid). Large volume sample stacking with polarity switching was used for sensitivity enhancement. With sample injection representing 50% of capillary volume and polarity switching at 1.6 min, an average 90-fold enhancement of absorbance signal of the analytes was achieved. The calibration curves were linear (r = 0.9956–0.9994) in the range 0.2 to 1.8 μg mL^?1 of an analyte. The repeatability of migration times and peak areas was characterized by RSD values 0.11–0.57 and 1.63–5.66%, respectively. The proposed method offers favourable limits of detection (9–16 ng mL^?1) that compare well with those of LC.     

Silica Microspheres for SPE and Determination of Fungicides in Water by LC

A new method has been developed for the determination of metalaxyl, myclobutanil, and tebuconazole in environmental water samples with preconcentration by cartridges packed with SiO₂ microspheres prior to LC. Several parameters such as the volume and composition of eluent, sample flow rate, sample pH, and sample volume were optimized. Under the optimal conditions, excellent detection limits (S/N = 3) and precision (RSD, n = 6) were 0.02 ng mL^?1, 1.3% for metalaxyl, 0.02 ng mL^?1, and 2.4% for myclobutanil and 0.08 ng mL^?1 and 4.3% for tebuconazole, respectively. The method was applied to the analysis of real-water samples, and satisfactory results were obtained. The average spiked recoveries were in the range of 86.3–97.5%. These results indicate that SiO₂ microspheres have great potential to be used as a novel solid phase extraction adsorbent that could have wide applications in the environmental field.     

Determination of Triazine Herbicides and Metabolites by Solid Phase Extraction with HPLC Analysis

An efficient solid phase extractive preconcentration/separation method was developed for the trace determination of herbicides in aqueous samples using Amberlite XAD-4 resin as the adsorbent. The retained herbicides were eluted with methanol at a flow rate of 1.0 mL min^?1 and determined by HPLC-DAD (wavelength of 220 nm) using water (pH:4.7, phosphoric acid) and methanol (ratio 35:65) as the mobile phase with a flow rate of 1.0 mL min^?1. Quantitative recoveries of simazine, atrazine and its metabolities were achieved at optimized analysis conditions that included 0.75 g of resin; a pH of 3.0; an eluent volume of 3.0 mL; an eluent flow rate of 1.0 mL min^?1; and a sample flow rate of 4.0 mL min^?1. The limits of detection, preconcentration factor, and linear ranges for the herbicides were 0.084–0.121 µgL^?1, 1000, and 0.5–20 mg L^?1, respectively. The performance of the method was evaluated by analysis of spiked water samples. The recoveries of simazine, atrazine and their metabolities were found to be quantitative (99.6–104.8%) with RSDs of 2.2–4.8% and 2.8–4.7% for intra-day and inter-day precision, respectively. The proposed method was successfully applied for trace determination of studied analytes in waste water, apple juice, and red wine samples.     

Determination of methylmercury and phenylmercury in water samples by liquid-liquid-liquid microextraction coupled with capillary electrophoresis

A novel method for determination of methylmercury (MeHg) and phenylmercury (PhHg) by liquid-liquid-liquid microextraction (LLLME) coupled with capillary electrophoresis (CE) with ultraviolet (UV) technique was developed. The method based on MeHg and PhHg was complexed with 1-(2-pyridylazo)-2-naphthol (PAN) to form hydrophobic complexes. When the sample solution was stirred, analytes were extracted into the organic layer (200 microL toluene) and back-extracted simultaneously into the 4.0 microL 0.1% (w/v) l-cysteine microdrop. The factors affecting on the LLLME of two mercury species, including sample pH, complex reagent concentration, extraction time, volume of organic solvent, stirring rate and phase volume ratio, were investigated. Under the optimized conditions, the detection limits (S/N=3) of MeHg and PhHg were 0.94 and 0.43 ngmL(-1) (as Hg), respectively. The precisions (RSDs, c=10 ngmL(-1), n=7) were in the range of 3.3-3.4% for migration time, 6.1-7.2% for peak area response, and 6.7-7.5% for peak height response for the two mercury species. The enrichment factors of 324 for MeHg and 210 for PhHg were obtained with 40 min LLLME. The developed method was successfully applied to the determination of trace amounts of MeHg and PhHg in water samples.     

A Novel Automated Online SPE-Coupled CE System for the Analysis of Sulfonamide Antibiotics in Wastewater

A novel automated online SPE-coupled CE system with high precision has been developed, in which a four-port nano-valve served as an interface. With this system, 10 mL of pretreated water sample was introduced to the online SPE column, and the analytes were preconcentrated. After the cleanup step, the analytes were eluted, and a quantitative volume of the elution plug was injected in the capillary by switching the four-port nano-valve for CE separation. The experimental parameters, including the position of the four-port nano-valve, separation conditions, sample loading flow rate, sample volume, elution flow rate and four-port nano-valve switch time were optimized in detail. The effectiveness of the system was demonstrated by the analysis of six sulfonamide antibiotics in water samples. Good linear ranges were obtained with correlation coefficients from 0.9983 to 0.9997. The intra- and inter-day relative standard deviations were below 4.6 and 5.8%, respectively. The limits of detections were in the range of 2.22 to 3.35 ng mL^?1. This proposed method was successfully applied to the analysis of effluent and influent water from a wastewater treatment plant, and the average recoveries of the wastewater samples ranged from 77.3 to 92.0%.     

Determination of carbamates at trace levels in water and cucumber by capillary liquid chromatography

A sensitive and reliable method using capillary HPLC with UV-diode array detection (DAD) has been developed and validated for trace determination of carbamate pesticides in cucumber and environmental water samples. The analytes, including carbofuran, carbaryl, methiocarb, promecarb, benthiocarb and fenoxycarb, present legal residue levels regulated by the EU Council Directive 98/83/EC on drinking water and by the Regulation (EC) No. 396/2005 on vegetables. A previous off-line solid-phase extraction (SPE) procedure was required for preconcentration and sample clean-up. The separation was achieved using a C₁₈ column (150?mm?×?0.5?mm I.D, 5?µm particle size) and a mobile phase consisting of ACN?:?water using gradient mode, with a flow rate of 10?µl min^?1. Taking advantages of the characteristics of capillary HPLC, low volume of sample and solvents were required, achieving limits of detection for the studied compounds ranged from 10.0–29.6?ng l^?1 for water samples and 1.8–5.6?µg kg^?1 for cucumber, using UV-detection. Recoveries studies for fortified samples, at three different concentration levels, were carried out obtaining recoveries ranging from 70.0 to 111.1% and relative standard deviations (RSDs) lower than 10.6%.     

Cold vapor generation interface for mercury speciation coupling capillary electrophoresis with electrothermal quartz tube furnace atomic absorption spectrometry: Determination of mercury and methylmercury

A novel on-line coupled capillary electrophoresis (CE) cold vapor generation (CVG) with electrothermal quartz tube furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (EQTF-AAS) system for mercury speciation has been developed. The mercury species (inorganic mercury and methylmercury) were completely separated by CE in a 80 cm length × 100 μm i.d. fused-silica capillary at 20 kV and using a buffer of 100 mM boric acid and 10% (v/v) methanol (pH 8.30). The effects of the inner diameter of quartz tube, the acidity of HCl, the NaBH₄ concentration and N₂ flow rate on Hg signal intensity were investigated. Speciation of mercury was highlighted using CE-CVG-EQTF-AAS. The detection limits of methylmercury and mercury were 0.035 and 0.027 μg mL⁻¹, respectively. The precisions (RSDs) of peak height for six replicate injections of a mixture of 10 μg mL⁻¹ (as Hg) were better than 4%. The interface was used for speciation analysis of mercury in dry goldfish muscle.     

Preconcentration of beryllium via octadecyl silica gel microparticles doped with aluminon, and its determination by flame atomic absorption spectrometry

A simple and sensitive method is presented for solid phase extraction (SPE) and preconcentration of trace quantities of beryllium using octadecyl silica gel modifed with aurin tricarboxylic acid (aluminon). Beryllium is then determined by flame atomic absorption spectroscopy. Parameters affecting SPE such as pH, sample solution and eluent flow rate, type, concentration and volume of eluent, interfering ions and breakthrough volume, were investigated. Under optimal conditions, the beryllium ions were retained on the sorbent at pH 6–6.7, while 3.0 mL of 0.05 mol L^?1 HNO₃ is sufficient to elute the ions. The limit of detection (LOD) based on 3σ was 0.8 µg L^?1 for 250 mL sample solution and 5 mL 0.05 mol L^?1 HNO₃ as eluent. The LOD can reach 0.1 µg L^?1 for 1 L sample solution and 3 mL of 0.05 mol L^?1 HNO₃. The accuracy and precision (RSD %) of the method is >90% and <10%, respectively. The method was applied to the determination of beryllium in aqueous samples.     

Comparison of Modifiers for Mercury Speciation in Water by Solid Phase Extraction and High Performance Liquid Chromatography–Atomic Fluorescence Spectrometry

Diethyldithiocarbamate and 2-mercaptoethanol modifiers were compared for the preconcentration of mercury species in water by C₁₈ solid phase extraction (SPE). The recovery values of mercury species were determined by high performance liquid chromatography–atomic fluorescence spectrometry. The eluent type, pH, chloride ion concentration, humic acid concentration, and storage time were evaluated to compare the preconcentration efficiency. L-cysteine was employed to elute the mercury compounds. Less eluent was needed for 2-mercaptoethanol modified SPE than for diethyldithiocarbamate modified SPE at an L-cysteine concentration of 0.12%. Diethyldithiocarbamate modified SPE could be used over a wider pH range and higher humic acid concentrations, whereas 2-mercaptoethanol modified SPE was less affected by the chloride concentration. Both modified SPE systems stored mercury species for 5 days, but diethyldithiocarbamate modified SPE could be stored longer. Diethyldithiocarbamate SPE provided limits of detections of 3.5, 2.5, and 4 ng · L^?1 and average recoveries of 90.78 ± 3.37%, 96.79 ± 5.12%, and 84.88 ± 5.37% for mercury(II), methylmercury, and ethylmercury, respectively. The relative standard deviation was less 6.5%. For 2-mercaptoethanol modified SPE, the limits of detection were 1.4, 1, and 1.6 ng · L^?1 and the recoveries were of 87.66 ± 8.45%, 86.70 ± 2.61%, and 91.31 ± 6.98% for mercury(II), methylmercury, and ethylmercury, respectively, with a relative standard deviation below 9.7%. Water should be characterized for its physical and chemical characteristics before mercury preconcentration to choose the most suitable method.     

On-line preconcentration of perfluorooctanoic acid and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid by nonaqueous capillary electrophoresis

Separation of major environmental pollutants as perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) by capillary electrophoresis is reported for the first time. It is not possible to resolve the solutes in an aqueous media. However, the use of methanol and acetonitrile as the background electrolyte (BGE) solvents allowed their rapid separation in an uncoated capillary. A major effort was put into BGE optimization in respect to both separation efficiency and detection for further on‐line preconcentration. 5 mmol.L^?1 naphthalene‐1‐sulfonic acid and 10 mmol.L^?1 triethylamine dissolved in ACN/MeOH (50:50 v/v) provided best separation and detection conditions. Next, the large‐volume sample stacking and the field‐amplified sample injection were applied and compared. Large‐volume sample stacking improved limits of detection (LODs) with regard to the standard injection by 69 times for PFOA and 143 times for PFOS with LODs of 280 and 230 nmol.L^?1, respectively. Field‐amplified sample injection improved LODs 624 times for PFOAand 806 times for PFOS with LODs 31 and 40 nmol.L^?1, respectively. Both preconcentration methods showed repeatabilities of migration times less than 1.2% RSD intraday and 6.6% RSD interday. The method was applied on PFOA and PFOS analysis in a sample of river water treated with solid‐phase extraction, which further improved LOD toward 5.6 × 10^?10 mol.L^?1 for PFOS and 6.4 × 10^?10 mol.L^?1 for PFOA and allows the method to be used for river water contamination screening or decomposition studies.     

Wall modified photonic crystal fibre capillaries as porous layer open tubular columns for in-capillary micro-extraction and capillary chromatography

Wall modified photonic crystal fibre capillary columns for in-capillary micro-extraction and liquid chromatographic separations is presented. Columns contained 126 internal parallel 4 μm channels, each containing a wall bonded porous monolithic type polystyrene-divinylbenzene layer in open tubular column format (PLOT). Modification longitudinal homogeneity was monitored using scanning contactless conductivity detection and scanning electron microscopy. The multichannel open tubular capillary column showed channel diameter and polymer layer consistency of 4.2 ± 0.1 μm and 0.26 ± 0.02 μm respectively, and modification of 100% of the parallel channels with the monolithic polymer. The modified multi-channel capillaries were applied to the in-capillary micro-extraction of water samples. 500 μL of water samples containing single μg L⁻¹ levels of polyaromatic hydrocarbons were extracted at a flow rate of 10 μL min⁻¹, and eluted in 50 μL of acetonitrile for analysis using HPLC with fluorescence detection. HPLC LODs were 0.08, 0.02 and 0.05 μg L⁻¹ for acenaphthene, anthracene and pyrene, respectively, with extraction recoveries of between 77 and 103%. The modified capillaries were also investigated briefly for direct application to liquid chromatographic separations, with the retention and elution of a standard protein (cytochrome c) under isocratic conditions demonstrated, proving chromatographic potential of the new column format, with run-to-run retention time reproducibility of below 1%.     

Selective extraction and preconcentration of ultra-trace amounts of arsenic(V) ions using carbon nanotubes as a novel sorbent

In the present study, multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) as solid phase extraction sorbent were developed for preconcentration of arsenic(V) species prior to graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GFAAS) determination. Arsenic(V) was selectively sorbed on the packed column with MWCNTs within a pH 9.5 in the presence of 2-(5-bromo-2-pyridylazo)-5-diethyl amino phenol (5-Br-PADAP). The adsorbed species was then desorbed with 1 mL of 2.0 M HNO₃. Experimental parameters including pH, sample volume and flow rate, type, volume and concentration of eluent that influence the recovery of the arsenic(V) species were optimised. Under the optimised conditions, the calibration curve was linear in the range of 0.2–10.0 µg L^?1 with detection limit of 0.016 µg L^?1. The relative standard deviations (RSD) for seven replicate determinations at 1.0 µg L^?1 level of arsenic was 6.69%. The proposed method was successfully applied to the determination of arsenic in water samples and certified reference material (NIST RSM 1643e).     

Polymer monolithic capillary microextraction combined on‐line with inductively coupled plasma MS for the determination of trace rare earth elements in biological samples

A rapid and sensitive method based on polymer monolithic capillary microextraction combined on‐line with microconcentric nebulization inductively coupled plasma MS has been developed for the determination of trace/ultratrace rare earth elements in biological samples. For this purpose, the iminodiacetic acid modified poly(glycidyl methacrylate‐trimethylolpropane trimethacrylate) monolithic capillary was prepared and characterized by SEM and FTIR spectroscopy. Factors affecting the extraction efficiency, such as sample pH, sample flow rate, sample/eluent volume, and coexisting ions were investigated in detail. Under the optimal conditions, the LODs for rare earth elements were in the range of 0.08 (Er) to 0.97 ng/L (Nd) with a sampling frequency of 8.5 h^?1, and the RSDs were between 1.5% (Sm) and 7.4% (Nd) (c = 20 ng/L, n = 7). The proposed method was successfully applied to the analysis of trace/ultratrace rare earth elements in human urine and serum samples, and the recoveries for the spiked samples were in the range of 82–105%. The developed method was simple, rapid, sensitive, and favorable for the analysis of trace/ultratrace rare earth elements in biological samples with limited sample volume.