Sorption-spectroscopic determination of selenium using a PANV-AV-17 fibrous ion-exchanger

The possibility of determining selenium on the solid phase of polyacrylonitrile fibers impregnated by an AV-17 anion-exchanger ([PANV-AV-17]) were examined by virtue of diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. Reactions of a complex formation between selenium(IV) and organic reagents on solid phase as well as the formation of an elemental selenium sol both on the solid phase and in solution followed by absorption were studied. The best analytical parameters were achieved in the adsorption of selenium sol formed in solution upon the addition of ascorbic acid. The comparison of the batch and dynamic adsorption modes revealed greater advances of the dynamic one. The optimal conditions for determining selenium were proved as follows: the formation of a selenium sol in a 1% ascorbic acid solution at pH 2 and dynamic adsorption at a flow rate of 5 mL/min. A procedure was developed for determining selenium with a limit of detection of 0.1 mg/L. The procedure was validated by the added-found method in the analysis of river and well natural waters and also the standard specimen OSO-200-90, which also contained As, Bi, Sb, and PO₄³⁻. The duration of analysis for 5–6 samples of the volume 100 mL was 30 min approximately, RSD < 20%.     

The determination of selenium in sea water,silicates and marine organisms

Spectrophotometric procedures are described for the determination of selenium in sea water, silicates (especially marine sediments) and marine organisms. Coprecipitation with iron(III) hydroxide at pH 4–6 is used to concentrate selenium and to separate it from many of the commoner elements. Separation from iron and other cations is achieved by ion exchange. Selenium is determined photometrically with diaminobenzidine. Isotope dilution with selenium-75 is used to correct results for the small losses occurring during the analysis. Silicates can be decomposed without loss of selenium by means of a mixture of hydrofluoric and nitric acids. The method of Cummins et al., with sulphuric and perchloric acids in presence of molybdate ion, is highly satisfactory for the decomposition of bio-materials. For sea water, which contains ca. 0.4–0.5 <mg Se/l, a standard deviation of 0.03 μg/l was obtained. A silicate sediment and a sea weed containing ca. 1.5 μg Se/g and 0.8 μg Se/g respectively gave coefficients of variation of 8.0% and 4.7%. The U.S. Geological Survey standard granite G1 was found to contain 2.5 ± 0.1 μg Se/g.     

Separation and determination of selenium in rocks, marine sediments and plankton by direct evolution with the bromide-condensed phosphoric acid reagent

A new method is presented for the quantitative separation and determination of selenium by direct evolution with the bromide-condensed phosphoric acid reagent (Br(-)-CPA) from rocks, marine sediments and plankton. In the reaction with the Br(-1)-CPA, selenium(IV) and (VI) in the solid samples are evolved as selenium tetrabromide, and can be collected in an absorbing solution of 0.3M hydrochloric acid and 06M perchloric add (1:1), and then determined spectrophotometrically with 4-substituted o-phenylenediamines followed by the extraction of the resulting 5-substituted piazselenol into toluene. Elemental selenium and selenide do not react with the Br(-)-CPA, but can be determined after oxidation to selenite with potassium iodate. Therefore, successive distillations, the first with Br(-)-CPA and the second with IO(3)(-)-Br(-)-CPA, give a satisfactory means of diflerential determination of selenium(IV) and (VI), and elemental selenium and selenide. This method can be successfully applied for the separation of selenium in the neutron-activation analysis of standard rock samples, marine sediments and plankton, giving good and reliable results.     

determination of Carbon,Nitrogen and Sulfur in Soils,Sediments and Wastes: A Comparative Study

Abstract

The determination of low levels (< 1 %) of total carbon and nitrogen in soils, sediments and solid wastes is made fast using an automated elemental NCS analyzer (Carlo Erba NA-1500). The recoveries of total N obtained were similar with either the elemental analyzer or the Kjeldahl digestion method used. The recoveries and precision of the TC, TOC data were better and more predictable using the elemental analyzer than the wet digestion procedure used in this study. Acid pre-treatment prior TOC determinations using the NCS analyzer resulted in lower total N recoveries. The determination of S in the same materials using this analyzer is not recommended due to low recoveries and poor precision.     

Macro micro separation of selenium and tellurium: Application to NAA</p> </p>

Summary A simple pre-irradiation separation approach has been worked out for the determination of traces of tellurium in high purity selenium followed by neutron activation analysis (NAA) for the end determination of the analyte/s. The difference in volatilities of these elements has been utilized for the separation of the analyte from the matrix. The complete volatility of selenium at ~600 °C was established using neutron activation analysis and selenium radiotracer. Standard addition was used to validate the results. The proposed method of separation of selenium prior to irradiation could make the determination of tellurium possible and also improved the detection limit by several folds.</p> </p>     

Routine determination of mercury,arsenic and selenium by radiochemical Neutron Activation Analysis

A method for the determination of mercury, arsenic and selenium by neutron activation analysis is described. Radiochemical separations are performed by selective distillation followed by electrolysis of mercury on gold and precipitation of arsenic and/or selenium by reduction to the elemental form. The chemical yields are 80–90% for mercury and 90–100% for arsenic and selenium. Interference tests have been carried out with reference to those elements most likely to interfere with the analysis. Detection limits for mercury, arsenic and selenium using 0.1 g of sample are 0.2 ng g^–1, 2 ng g^–1 and 3 ng g^–1, resp. Detection limits can be improved using greater sample size and neutron flux density. Results from the analysis of several NBS standard reference materials are given.     

Flow injection-hydride generation atomic absorption spectrometric determination of selenium, arsenic and bismuth

A simple and robust flow injection system which permits low sample and reagent consumption is described for rapid and reliable hydride generation atomic absorption spectrometric determination of selenium, arsenic and bismuth. The system, which composed of one peristaltic pump and one four channel solenoid valve, used water as the carrier streams for both sample and NaBH₄ solution. Rapid off-line pre-reduction of the analytes was achieved by using hydroxylamine hydrochloride for selenium and a mixture of potassium iodide and ascorbic acid for arsenic and bismuth. Transition metal interference was eliminated with the addition of thiourea and EDTA into the NaBH₄ solution and significant sensitivity enhancement was observed for selenium in the presence of thiourea in the reductant solution. Under optimised conditions, the method achieved detection limits of 0.2 ng mL⁻¹ for Se, 0.5 ng mL⁻¹ for As and 0.3 ng mL⁻¹ for Bi. The method was very reproducible, achieving relative standard deviations of 6.3% for Se, 3.6% for As and 4.7% for Bi, and has a sample throughput of 360 h⁻¹. Successful application of the method to the quantification of selenium, arsenic and bismuth in a certified reference river sediment sample is reported.     

Cyclic and stripping voltammetry of Se(+4) and Se(-2) at carbon electrodes in acid solutions

The behaviour of the Se(+4)?Se(0)?Se(?2) system was studied by cyclic and stripping voltammetry using several kinds of graphite and glassy carbon electrodes in the pH range from 0 to 8. Well-defined curves of Se(+4) reduction were obtained with a very soft graphite electrode, whereas poorly defined curves were recorded with glassy carbon electrodes. The reduction of Se(+4) in acid solution led to the formation of two forms of elemental selenium. One was formed in a direct electroreduction and the other in a subsequent chemical reaction between Se(+4) and Se(?2). These two forms of Se(0) gave separate reduction and oxidation peaks. Hydrogen selenide was anodically oxidized stepwise to elemental selenium and selenous acid. With an increase of pH the extent of Se(+4) reduction decreased and the extent of Se(?2) oxidation increased.The cathodic and anodic stripping peaks of elemental selenium cannot be used for the determination of traces of Se(+4) because they appear only in solutions with Se(+4) concentrations >1×10^?5 mol 1^?1.     

Negative thermal ionization mass spectrometry of selenium part 4. Selenium trace determination in sediments and related samples

Summary Selenium traces have been determined in different sediments (estuarine, river, lake), sandy soil and sewage sludge with isotope dilution mass spectrometry (IDMS). Negative selenium atomic ions are formed in a double-filament thermal ion source. The use of a silica gel technique for ionization improves the mass spectrometric sensitivity by a factor of 40 compared with the technique previously applied. An enriched⁸²Se spike is used for the isotope dilution process. The samples are decomposed with a mixture of conc. HNO₃ and conc. HE After decomposition selenium is separated by the formation of SeH₂ in a hydride generation system which is normally applied for atomic absorption spectrometry. The IDMS results for three standard reference sediments agree well with the certified values. In the case of three other standard reference materials, which are not certified for selenium up to now, the IDMS analyses were able to improve the selenium data given for information or as indicative values. The precision of the IDMS method in the concentration range of 0.2–3.5 g/g lies between 0.8 % and 4.1 %. The detection limit is 6 ng/g. A comparison with several other methods shows that IDMS is one of the very few analytical methods which produces accurate selenium results even at concentration levels of 0.2 g/g and less in sediments and related samples of environmental interest.

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Negative Thermionen-Massenspektrometrie von Selen Teil 4. Selenspurenbestimmung in Sedimenten und vergleichbaren Proben

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Dedicated to Prof. Dr. G. Tblg on the occasion of his 60th birthday     

A chemical concentration x-ray determination of selenium in copper-, nickel-and iron-base alloys

A method is described for the determination of selenium in various metals and alloys at concentrations of 3-100ppm. A chemical separation is made by filtration after reduction of the selenious acid to elemental selenium with hydroxylamine hydrochloride. The pure selenium product is readily analysed by X-ray fluorescence; the method is free from errors due to matrix effects. The relative standard deviation is 6 % for a copper-nickel alloy at the 60 ppm level.     

Precipitate coating on cellulose fibre as sorption medium for selenium preconcentration and speciation with hydride generation atomic fluorescence spectrometry

Lanthanum hydroxide precipitate is for the first time coated onto cellulose fibre and serves as a novel sorption medium for separation and speciation of inorganic selenium. A micro-column packed with precipitate-layer-coated cellulose fibre is incorporated into a sequential injection system for selenite retention from a neutral aqueous solution, which is afterwards stripped with a NaBH₄-NaOH solution as eluent. The hydride generation is actuated by merging the eluate and hydrochloric acid downstream, followed by the detection with atomic fluorescence spectrometry. Total inorganic selenium is derived by pre-reduction of selenate and speciation is estimated by difference. The coated precipitate layer can be used for 150 runs for selenium sorption, offering a clear advantage over the conventional precipitation protocols where a large amount of precipitate is dissolved into a small volume of eluent which might interfere with the detection. With a sample volume of 1.0 mL, an enrichment factor of 9.7 and a detection limit of 9 ng L⁻¹ are obtained in a linear range of 0.05-2.5 μg L⁻¹. A sampling frequency of 24 h⁻¹ is achieved along with a R.S.D. of 1.7% at 0.5 μg L⁻¹ Se(IV). The procedure is validated by analyzing selenium in a reference material GBW 10010 (rice) and a human hair sample. It is further demonstrated by speciation of inorganic selenium in surface water samples by pre-reduction of selenate.     

The determination of selenium in water samples from the environment

A method for the determination of selenium by preconcentration and thermal neutron activation is presented. Selenium is adsorbed on active charcoal after reduction to the elemental state. By varying the conditions of the reduction, it is possible to measure the total selenium content and tetravalent selenium separately. The contribution of hexavalent selenium is obtained by substraction. The lower limit of determination is 5 ng°1⁻¹. About 40 samples per day can be handled by one analyst. The preconcentration can be performed at the sampling site resulting in samples, which can be stored easily for later analyses by neutron activation.     

Radiochemical activation analysis of arsenic,selenium and antimony in biological samples

A method for the neutron activation analysis of arsenic, selenium and antimony has been developed. A radiochemical separation is performed by distillation followed by precipitation of the individual elements. Selenium and arsenic are precipitated by reduction to the elemental form while antimony is precipitated as sulfide. The chemical yields and detection limits using 0.5 g samples are the following: As 90–100%, 0.4 ppb, Se 80–100%, 8 ppb and Sb 50–70%, 0.2 ppb. Results from the analysis of nine international biological standard samples are given.     

Inorganic speciation analysis of selenium by ion chromatography-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry and its application to effluents from a petroleum refinery

A new method for the speciation analysis of selenite (Se-IV), selenate (Se-VI), and selenocyanate (SeCN⁻) is described and first results are presented on the distribution of these species in wastewater samples from a Brazilian oil refinery plant. The method is based on the ion chromatographic separation of these species followed by on-line detection of ⁷⁷Se, ⁷⁸Se, and ⁸²Se using quadrupole inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICPMS). The system employed consisted of a HPLC pump equipped with a manual syringe loading injector, and an anion exchange column (Metrosep A Supp1), the latter interfaced with the ICPMS via a concentric nebulizer–cyclonic spray chamber sample introduction device. Several eluents already described in the literature for the speciation analysis of inorganic selenium were tested, permitting in most cases a good separation of Se(IV) and Se(VI), however, resulting all in very long residence times (> 30 min) and associated peak broadening for the SeCN⁻ ion. This drawback could be effectively avoided by using as the mobile phase a solution of cyanuric acid (3 mmol L⁻¹), modified with acetonitrile (2% v/v) and percchlorate acid (2.5 mmol L⁻¹). Typical retention times (s) for the three analyte species were: selenite (210) < selenate (250) < selenocyanate (450). Repeatabilities in peak position were better than 1% and in peak area evaluation about 3%. Absolute limits of detection (in ng) for these species using an ELAN 5000 instrument and a 500-μL sample injection loop are 0.04, 0.05 and 0.09, respectively. No certified reference materials were available for this study, however, results on spiked wastewater samples showed acceptable recoveries (80–110%) and repeatabilities (RSD < 5%), thus validating this method for its intended purpose. Once optimized, the method was applied to wastewater samples from an oil refinery plant. In all samples until now analyzed, selenocyanate was by far the most abundant selenium species reaching concentrations of up to 90 μg L⁻¹. Selenite was detected only in one sample and selenate could not identified in any of the samples analyzed. Total concentrations of selenium in most samples, assessed by hydride generation ICPMS and by solution nebulization inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICPOES), exceeded those obtained from speciation analysis, indicating the presence of other selenium species not observed by the here used methodology.     

Three-component reaction of imidazoles,cyanophenylacetylene, and chalcogens: stereoselective synthesis of 3-alkenyl-2-imidazolethiones and -selones

The three-component reaction of 1-substituted imidazoles, cyanophenylacetylene, and elemental sulfur or selenium proceeds readily (for sulfur at room temperature without solvent, and for selenium in boiling MeCN) to stereoselectively afford 3-(Z)-cyanophenylethenyl-2-imidazolethiones or -selones in yields ranging 39–97% (for thiones) and 39–84% (for selones). In this reaction, tellurium is inactive both under the above conditions and upon heating (50–55 °C) in DMSO, instead, only the C(2)-vinylation of the imidazole ring in up to 98% yield takes place. The Z-stereoselectivity of the reaction is close to 100% (for sulfur) and reaches 91–99% (for selenium). The reaction involves the zwitterionic adduct of imidazoles with cyanophenylacetylene, which converts to the carbene via proton transfer (from the imidazole 2 position to the carbanionic site of the zwitterion) further reacting with chalcogens.     

Simultaneous Determination of Selenocyanate and Thiocyanate Ions in the Presence of Cyanide by Oxidation with bis (Trifluoroacetoxy) iodobenzene

Abstract

An investigation of the use of potentiometric titrations of selenocyanate and thiocyanate aqueous solutions, in the presence of cyanide ions, with bis (trifluoroacetoxy) iodobenzene in acetonitrile and then the gravimetric determination of the products of the reactions, elemental selenium and sulphate ions, has been carried out.

Selenocyanates are first oxidized to selenium and then thiocyanates are oxidized to sulphate ions. Break point curves are identified. The rose-pink precipitate is filtered and the clear filtrate is warmed on a hot plate for evaporation of acetonitrile. A solution of barium chloride is added to the hot solution in order to precipitate the sulphate ions.     

Bestimmung und abtrennung von sauerstoffverunreinigungen in reinst-selenThe determination and separation of oxygen impurities in high-purity selenium

(The determination and separation of oxygen impurities in high-purity selenium)By distillation in high vacuum, high-purity selenium is almost completely freed from impurities caused by metallic elements, oxides and water. If bulk vitreous selenium has a suitable thermal history, the oxygen content may be determined from the intensity of the oxide absorption band at 932 cm^?1 in the i.r. spectrum of the glass. In distilled selenium this content is < 1 × 10^?4 wt.< %.     

Extraction and determination of elemental selenium in sediments--a comparative study

This paper proposes a new technique to extract elemental Se from soil and sediment samples. In this study, we have identified that the purchased red elemental selenium standard (PF-Se) was impure and rather consisted of a mixture of CS₂ soluble amorphous elemental Se (ca. 10%, w/w), water soluble oxidized Se (ca. 15-17%, w/w) and, CS₂ insoluble red monoclinic elemental Se. In more recent studies, a slow oxidation and a mineral phase transition of this sample was also observed. The solubility of the amorphous elemental Se in CS₂ was at least 0.64 mg L⁻¹. The black elemental Se purchased from Sigma-Aldrich had a much lower solubility in CS₂ (7.2 μg mL⁻¹) compared to that given in the literature. Any selenium compounds with electrical charge and polar nature is insoluble in CS₂. In a sodium sulphite solution, PF-Se was completely dissolved thus giving a clear indication of the lack of selectivity in that extraction system. Other comparative studies also demonstrated that over extraction did occur with the Na₂SO₃ method. Compared to Na₂SO₃, CS₂ extraction of elemental Se is not only much simpler, straightforward and with higher analytical precision, but also much more selective and accurate. With HG-AFS, the detection limit can reach as low as 1.0 ng g⁻¹ in sediment sample owing to a low reagent blank of CS₂ solvent.     

Determination of selenium in ores, concentrates and related materials by graphite-furnace atomic-absorption spectrometry after separation by extraction of the 4-nitro-o-phenylenediamine complex

A method for determining approximately 0.01 mug/g or more of selenium in ores, concentrates, rocks, soils, sediments and related materials is described. After sample decomposition selenium is reduced to selenium(IV) by heating in 4M hydrochloric acid and separated from the matrix elements by toluene extraction of its 5-nitropiazselenol complex from approximately 4.2M hydrochloric acid. After the extract has been washed with 2% nitric acid to remove residual iron, copper and chloride, the selenium in the extract is oxidized to selenium(VI) with 20% bromine solution in cyclohexane and stripped into water. This solution is evaporated to dryness in the presence of nickel, and selenium is ultimately determined in a 2% v/v nitric acid medium by graphite-furnace atomic-absorption spectrometry at 196.0 nm with the nickel functioning as matrix modifier. Common ions, including large amounts of iron, copper and lead, do not interfere. More than 1 mg of vanadium(V) and 0.25 mg each of platinum(IV), palladium(II), and gold(III) causes high results for selenium, and more than 1 mg of tungsten(VI) and 2 mg of molybdenum(VI) causes low results. Interference from chromium(VI) is eliminated by reducing it to chromium(III) with hydroxylamine hydrochloride before the formation of the selenium complex.     

Determination of Elemental Sulfur in Bottom Sediments Using High-Performance Liquid Chromatography

A procedure for determining elemental sulfur in bottom sediments by microcolumn reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography was developed. The analytical range was 4–1200 g/g (in terms of the dry weight of a sediment). The procedure is based on the direct injection of acetone extracts of sediments into a chromatographic column. The detection limit was 5 ng/peak (signal-to-noise ratio of 3 : 1); the relative standard deviation was 5.6%. Errors introduced at particular stages of analysis and the total errors were evaluated for different sampling techniques. The results of determining elemental sulfur in the core samples of bottom sediments from Lake Baikal are presented.