Determination of phosphate in natural water employing a monosegmented flow system with simultaneous multiple injection

A monosegmented flow system was employed for the determination of low contents of phosphate in natural water. In this approach, sample and reagents are simultaneously injected to a PTFE reaction coil where the homogenization of the mixture occurs while the monosegment is pumped forwards the photometric detector. The proposed system was evaluated by determining phosphate ion, based on the reaction of association between molybdophosphate and malachite green. It was evaluated individually the best concentration of the reagent solution in relation to blank signal (absorbance of the blank) and the sensitivity of the method. A factorial design was proposed to explain the contribution of each component on the formation of the ion association complex, evaluating the individual contributions as well as the synergistic and antagonistic effects. With the established conditions, phosphorous is determined in the concentration range of 5.0-75 μg P PO₄³⁻ l⁻¹ (r=0.9992), with a detection limit of 0.70 μg P PO₄³⁻ l⁻¹ and a relative standard deviation of 2% (20 μg P PO₄³⁻ l⁻¹, n=8). The proposed method has a sampling frequency of 72 h⁻¹.     

High throughput method for the analysis of cetrizine hydrochloride in pharmaceutical formulations and in biological fluids using a tris(2,2'-bipyridyl)ruthenium(II)-peroxydisulphate chemiluminescence system in a two-chip device

A fast, economic and sensitive chemiluminescence (CL) method has been developed for the analysis of cetrizine hydrochloride (CET) in pharmaceutical formulations and in biological fluids. The CL method is based on the oxidation of tris(2,2′-bipyridyl)ruthenium(II) (Ru (bipy)₃²⁺) by peroxydisulphate in a two-chip device. Up to 180 samples can be analysed per hour, consuming only minute quantities of reagents. Three instrumental setups were tested to find the most economical, sensitive and high throughput setup. In the first setup, a continuous flow of sample and CL reagents was used, whereas in the second setup, a fixed volume (2 μL) of (Ru (bipy)₃²⁺) was introduced into a continuous infusion of peroxydisulphate and the sample. In the third design, a fixed volume of sample (2 μL) was injected while the CL reagents were continuously infused. Compared to the first setup, a 200% signal enhancement was observed in the third setup. Various parameters that influence the CL signal intensity, including pH, flow rates and reagent concentrations, were optimized. A linear response was observed over the range of 50 μg L⁻¹ to 6400 μg L⁻¹ (R² = 0.9959) with RSD values of 1.1% (n = 15) for 1000 μg L⁻¹. The detection limit was found to be 15 μg L⁻¹ (S/N = 3). The amount of consumed sample was only 2 μL, from which the detected amount of CET was found to be 6.5 × 10⁻¹⁴ mol. This procedure was successfully applied to the analysis of CET in pharmaceutical formulations and biological fluids.     

Reversed flow injection spectrophotometric determination of chlorate

An interfacing has been developed to connect a spectrophotometer with a personal computer and used as a readout system for development of a simple, rapid and sensitive reversed flow injection (rFI) procedure for chlorate determination. The method is based on the oxidation of indigo carmine by chlorate ions in an acidic solution (dil. HCl) leading to the decrease in absorbance at 610 nm. The decrease in absorbance is directly related to the chlorate concentration present in the sample solutions. Optimum conditions for chlorate were examined. A linear calibration graph over the range of 0.1-0.5 mg L⁻¹ chlorate was established with the regression equation of Y = 104.5X + 1.0, r² = 0.9961 (n = 6). The detection limit (3σ) of 0.03 mg L⁻¹, the limit of quantitation (10σ) of 0.10 mg L⁻¹ and the RSD of 3.2% for 0.3 mg L⁻¹ chlorate (n = 11) together with a sample throughput of 92 h⁻¹ were obtained. The recovery of the added chlorate in spiked water samples was 98.5 ± 3.1%. Major interferences for chlorate determination were found to be BrO₃⁻, ClO₂⁻, ClO⁻ and IO₃⁻ which were overcome by using SO₃²⁻ (as Na₂SO₃) as masking agent. The method has been successfully applied for the determination of chlorate in spiked water samples with the minimum reagent consumption of 14.0 mL h⁻¹. Good agreement between the proposed rFIA and the reference methods was found verified by Student's t-test at 95% confidence level.     

A clean method for flow injection spectrophotometric determination of cyclamate in table sweeteners

A flow system based on the multicommutation is proposed for fast and clean determination of cyclamate. The procedure exploits the reaction of cyclamate with nitrite in acidic medium and the spectrophotometric determination of the excess of nitrite by iodometry. The flow system was designed with a set of solenoid micro-pumps to minimize reagent consumption and waste generation. The detection limit was estimated as 30 μmol L⁻¹ (99.7% confidence level) with linear response ranging up to 3.0 mmol L⁻¹. The coefficient of variation was estimated as 1.7% for a solution containing 2.0 mmol L⁻¹ cyclamate (n = 20). About 60 samples can be analyzed per hour, consuming only 3 mg KI and 1.3 μg NaNO₂, and generating 2.0 mL of effluent per determination, thus providing an environmentally friendly alternative to previously proposed procedures. Common artificial and natural sweeteners did not interfere when present in concentrations 10-times higher than cyclamate. The procedure was successfully applied for determination of cyclamate in artificial table sweeteners with results in agreement with the reference method at the 95% confidence level.     

An environmentally friendly flow system for high-sensitivity spectrophotometric determination of free chlorine in natural waters

A green and highly sensitive analytical procedure was developed for the determination of free chlorine in natural waters, based on the reaction with N,N-diethyl-p-phenylenediamine (DPD). The flow system was designed with solenoid micro-pumps in order to improve mixing conditions by pulsed flows and to minimize reagent consumption as well as waste generation. A 100-cm optical path flow cell based on a liquid core waveguide was employed to increase sensitivity. A linear response was observed within the range 10.0 to 100.0 µg L^− 1, with the detection limit, coefficient of variation and sampling rate estimated as 6.8 µg L^− 1 (99.7% confidence level), 0.9% (n = 20) and 60 determinations per hour, respectively. The consumption of the most toxic reagent (DPD) was reduced 20,000-fold and 30-fold in comparison to the batch method and flow injection with continuous reagent addition, respectively. The results for natural and tap water samples agreed with those obtained by the reference batch spectrophotometric procedure at the 95% confidence level.     

A green analytical procedure for flow-injection determination of nitrate in natural waters

Nitrate determination in waters is generally carried out with cadmium filings and carcinogenic reagents or by reaction with phenolic compounds in highly concentrated sulfuric acid medium. In this work, it was developed a green analytical procedure for nitrate determination in natural waters based on direct spectrophotometric measurements in ultraviolet, using a flow-injection system with an anion-exchange column for separation of nitrate from interfering species. The proposed method employs only one reagent (HClO₄) in a minimum amount (equivalent to 18 μL concentrated acid per determination), and allowed nitrate determination within 0.50-25.0 mg L⁻¹, without interference of up to 200.0 mg L⁻¹ humic acid; 1.0 mg L⁻¹ NO₂⁻; 200.0 mg L⁻¹ PO₄³⁻; 75.0 mg L⁻¹ Cl⁻; 50.0 mg L⁻¹ SO₄²⁻ and 15.0 mg L⁻¹ Fe³⁺. The detection limit (99.7% confidence level) and the coefficient of variation (n = 20) were estimated as 0.1 mg L⁻¹ and 0.7%, respectively. The results obtained for natural water samples were in agreement with those achieved by the reference method based on nitrate reduction with copperized cadmium at the 95% confidence level.     

Improvement of sensitivity in flow analysis by exploiting a multi-reversed software-assisted system

A multi-reversed flow system software-assisted was developed for improvement of sensitivity in flow analysis. The performance of the flow system proposed was evaluated by using as a model the conventional Griess’ colorimetric reaction for determination of nitrite in waters. The manifold incorporated three 3-way solenoid valves, a relay box solenoid actuated, a peristaltic pump, and a photometric detector. A tailored software was designed and written in Visual Basic 6.0 which allows full control of all flow system components and simultaneous acquisition and processing of the data. The sensitivity measured as the slope of the calibration curve was improved 2.5- and 1.4-fold regarding those obtained by continuous- and stopped-flow systems, respectively. Other valuable features such as analytical throughput of 55 determinations per hour, limit of detection of 5 μg L⁻¹ (3σ_blank/slope), relative standard deviation < 2% (n = 8), and a linear dynamic range up to 1800 μg L⁻¹ were also achieved.     

A flow injection procedure based on solenoid micro-pumps for spectrophotometric determination of free glycerol in biodiesel

A flow system designed with solenoid micro-pumps is proposed for fast and greener spectrophotometric determination of free glycerol in biodiesel. Glycerol was extracted from samples without using organic solvents. The determination involves glycerol oxidation by periodate, yielding formaldehyde followed by formation of the colored (3,5-diacetil-1,4-dihidrolutidine) product upon reaction with acetylacetone. The coefficient of variation, sampling rate and detection limit were estimated as 1.5% (20.0 mg L⁻¹ glycerol, n = 10), 34 h⁻¹, and 1.0 mg L⁻¹ (99.7% confidence level), respectively. A linear response was observed from 5 to 50 mg L⁻¹, with reagent consumption estimated as 345 μg of KIO₄ and 15 mg of acetylacetone per determination. The procedure was successfully applied to the analysis of biodiesel samples and the results agreed with the batch reference method at the 95% confidence level.     

Microflow injection chemiluminescence system with spiral microchannel for the determination of cisplatin in human serum

A new microflow injection chemiluminescence (μFI-CL) system was described for the determination of cisplatin in human serum. By using the microchip with double spiral channel configuration, the sensitivity was greatly enhanced due to more efficient mixing of the analyte and reagent solutions. Experimental results revealed that common ions in human serum, such as Mn²⁺, Co²⁺, Fe³⁺, Cu²⁺, Zn²⁺, Ni²⁺, Na⁺, K⁺, Ca²⁺, Cl⁻, NO₃⁻, Ac⁻, CO₃²⁻, PO₄³⁻, SO₄²⁻ did not cause interference with the detection of Pt(II) by using 1,10-phenanthroline as the masking agent. Under the optimized conditions, a linear calibration curve (R² = 0.998) over the range 2.0 × 10⁻⁸ to 2.0 × 10⁻⁶ mol L⁻¹ was obtained with the detection limit of 1.24 × 10⁻⁹ mol L⁻¹. The relative standard deviation was found to be 3.46% (n = 12) for 2.0 × 10⁻⁷ mol L⁻¹. The sample consumption was only 2 μL with the sample throughput of 72 h⁻¹. It had been used for trace platinum determination in cisplatin injection and human serum samples after the dosage of cisplatin. The recovery varied from 97.6 to 103.9%. The results proved that the proposed μFI-CL system had the advantages of high sensitivity and precision, low sample and reagents consumption, and high analytical throughput.     

Liquid–liquid microextraction in a multicommuted flow system for direct spectrophotometric determination of iodine value in biodiesel

A flow-based procedure was developed for the direct spectrophotometric determination of the iodine value (IV) in biodiesel. The procedure was based on the microextraction/reaction of unsaturated compounds with triiodide ions in an aqueous medium by inserting the reagent solution between the aliquots of biodiesel without any pretreatment. The interaction occurred through the biodiesel film formed on the inner walls of the hydrophobic tube used as the reactor and at the aqueous/biodiesel interfaces. The spectrophotometric detection was based on the discoloration of the I₃⁻ reagent in the aqueous phase by using a glass tube coupled to a fiber-optic spectrophotometer as the detection cell. Reference solutions were prepared by dilution of biodiesel samples with previously determined IV in hexane. The analytical response was linear for IV from 13 to 135 g I₂/100 g with a detection limit of 5 g I₂/100 g. A coefficient of variation of 1.7% (n = 10) and a sampling rate of 108 determinations per hour were achieved by consuming 224 μL of the sample and 200 μg of I₂ per determination. The slopes of analytical curves obtained with three different biodiesel samples were in agreement (variations in slopes lower than 3.1%), thus indicating an absence of any matrix effects. Results for biodiesel samples from different sources agreed with the volumetric official procedure at the 95% confidence level. The proposed procedure is therefore a simple, fast, and reliable alternative for estimating the iodine value of biodiesel.     

Field measurement of nitrate in marine and estuarine waters with a flow analysis system utilizing on-line zinc reduction

A sensitive reagent-injection flow analysis method for the spectrophotometric determination of nitrate in marine, estuarine and fresh water samples is described. The method is based on the reduction of nitrate in a micro column containing zinc granules at pH 6.5. The nitrite formed is reacted with sulfanilamide and N-(1-naphthyl)ethylene diamine (Griess reagent), and the resulting azo compound is quantified spectrophotometrically at 520 nm. Water samples in the range of 3-700 μg L⁻¹ NO₃⁻-N can be processed with a throughput of up to 40 samples per hour, a detection limit of 1.3 μg L⁻¹ and reproducibility of 1.2% RSD (50 μg L⁻¹ NO₃⁻-N, n = 10). The proposed method was successfully applied for the determination of nitrate in estuarine waters and the reliability was assessed by the analyses of certified reference materials and recovery experiments. The method is suitable for waters with a wide range of salinities, and was successfully used for more than 3200 underway nitrate measurements aboard SV Pelican1 in the “Two Bays” cruise in January 2010.     

Sensitive and ultra-fast determination of arsenic(III) by gas-diffusion flow injection analysis with chemiluminescence detection

A novel chemiluminescence gas-diffusion flow injection system for the determination of arsenic(III) in aqueous samples is described. The analytical procedure involves injection of arsenic(III) samples and standards into a 0.3 mol L⁻¹ hydrochloric acid carrier stream which is merged with a reagent stream containing 0.2% (w/v) sodium borohydride and 0.015 mol L⁻¹ sodium hydroxide. Arsine, generated in the combined carrier/reagent donor stream, diffuses across the hydrophobic Teflon membrane of the gas-diffusion cell into an argon acceptor stream and then reacts with ozone in the flow-through chemiluminescence measuring cell of the flow system. Under optimal conditions, the method is characterized by a wide linear calibration range from 0.6 μg L⁻¹ to 25 mg L⁻¹, a detection limit of 0.6 μg L⁻¹ and a sample throughput of 300 samples per hour at 25 mg L⁻¹ and 450 samples per hour at 25 μg L⁻¹.     

Synthesis of a novel bistriazene reagent 4,4′-bis[3-(4-phenylthiazol-2-yl)triazenyl]biphenyl and its highly sensitive color reaction with mercury(II)

We report the synthesis of a novel bistriazene, 4,4′-bis(3-(4-phenylthiazol-2-yl)triazenyl)biphenyl (BPTTBP), and its highly sensitive color reaction with Hg²⁺. The new reagent was synthesized in good yield by coupling 2-amino-4-phenylthiazole with 4,4′-biphenyldiamine bisdiazonium salt. Using a blend of surfactants N-cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC) and polyethylene glycol n-octanoic phenyl ether (OP) as a micelle sensitizer, the red colored reagent assembles with Hg²⁺ in pH 9.8 borate buffer according to a 1:1 stoichiometry, forming a blue oligomeric/polymeric chelating complex with a high apparent stability constant (1.1 × 10⁸ M⁻¹). Whereas the maximum absorption of reagent occurs at 510 nm with an extinct coefficient of 1.35 × 10⁴ M⁻¹ cm⁻¹, the complex absorbs at 611 nm, with an apparent extinct coefficient of 1.04 × 10⁵ M⁻¹ cm⁻¹. Beer's law is obeyed in the range of 0-15 μg/25 mL Hg²⁺, and Sandell's sensitivity is 1.92 × 10⁻³ μg/cm². In the presence of thiourea and Na₄P₂O₇ as masking agents, the method was found free from interferences of foreign ions commonly occurring with mercury. The optimized protocol has been successfully applied to spectrophotometric determination of mercury in waste water samples. The features of the new reagent associated with its special structure were discussed, and an unprecedented “domino effect” was proposed to account for its unique chelating stoichiometry with Hg²⁺.     

Fluorometric determination of fluoride ion by reagent tablets containing 3-hydroxy-2'-sulfoflavone and zirconium(IV) ethylenediamine tetraacetate

A reagent tablet for determination of fluoride ion has been prepared using ethylenediamine-N,N,N′,N′-tetraacetate complex of zirconium (Zr-EDTA), 3-hydroxy-2′-flavone (FS) and an appropriate pH buffer. Dissolving of the tablet into water exhibits an intense blue fluorescence (λ_max = 460 nm) upon excitation at 377 nm and the fluorescence intensity decreases with the presence of fluoride ion. Hence, a simple fluorescent detection procedure for fluoride ion in aqueous media was successfully constructed with this tablet. The principle of this detection system is the ligand exchange reaction of FS bound to Zr-EDTA with fluoride ion. The present system provides an easy, rapid and selective determination method of fluoride ion ranging from 5 × 10⁻⁶ to 1 × 10⁻³ mol dm⁻³. The measurement of real samples with this tablet showed the similar results as those by the common method with the Alfusone reagent.     

Automatic flow procedure based on multicommutation exploiting liquid-liquid extraction for spectrophotometric lead determination in plant material

A not expensive automatic flow system based on multicommutation and exploiting the liquid-liquid extraction methodology for the determination of lead in plant material is described. The spectrophotometric procedure for lead determination was based on the reaction with dithizone followed by extraction using an organic solvent. The facilities afforded by the multicommutation approach allowed the use of an air stream as carrier, thus contributing to reduce the overall waste generation. The results obtained analysing plant materials compare very well with those obtained employing inductive coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP OES) at 90% confidence level. Others profitable features such as a linear response range between 50 and 200 μg l⁻¹ Pb (r = 0.999); a sampling rate of 15 determination per hour; a relative standard deviation of 1.8% (n = 12) for a typical sample containing 163 μg l⁻¹ Pb; a detection limit of 12 μg l⁻¹; a reagent consumption of 4.5 mg dithizone; and a waste generation of 225 μl organic solvent per determination were also achieved.     

A novel spectrophotometric method for batch and flow injection determination of cyanide in electroplating wastewater

A sensitive and highly selective spectrophotometric method is described for the determination of cyanide. It is based on a reaction of cyanide with aquacyanocobyrinic acid heptamethyl ester (ACCbs) reagent (orange color) at pH 9.5 to give dicyanocobester (DCCbs) (violet color). The increase of the absorption bands of the reaction product at 368 and 580 nm and the decrease of the reagent band at 353 nm are linearly proportional to the cyanide concentration. The method is used in static mode for determining cyanide over the concentration range 0.04-1.20 μg ml⁻¹ with a detection limit of 0.02 μg ml⁻¹ and for hydrodynamic analysis of 0.4-5.2 μg ml⁻¹ cyanide. Application for batch and flow injection monitoring of cyanide in electroplating wastewater samples gives results agree within ± 1.2% with those obtained by the standard potentiometry using the cyanide ion selective electrode. The method is practically free from interferences by PO₄³⁻, NO₃⁻, NO₂⁻, SO₄²⁻, F⁻, Cl⁻, Br⁻, I⁻, S²⁻ and SCN⁻ ions and gives results with average recoveries of 97.6-99.2%. Advantages offered by using ACCbs as a chromogen for cyanide assay are: (i) high selectivity and sensitivity of the coordination site of the reagent towards cyanide ion; (ii) fast reaction, since legation takes place at the axial position of the reagent; (iii) good solubility and stability of the reagent in aqueous solutions over a wide pH range; (iv) high stability of the reagent (ACCbs) and the colored complex product (DCCbs) and (v) possible absorbance measurements at three different wavelengths.     

A new resonance scattering spectral method for the determination of trace amounts of iodate with rhodamine 6G

Under the conditions of 0.04 mol L⁻¹ HCl-8.0 × 10⁻⁴ mol L⁻¹ KI, there is a fluorescence peak at 540 nm and a synchronous fluorescence peak at 540 nm for rhodamine 6G (RhG). When there is IO₃⁻, it reacts with exceed I⁻ to form I₃⁻. And I₃⁻ and RhG combine into ion association particles. The particles exhibit three resonance scattering peaks at 320, 400 and 595 nm. And there is fluorescence quenching at 540 nm. Iodine concentration is proportional to the intensity of the resonance scattering intensity at 400 nm in the range of 1.0-20 × 10⁻⁷ mol L⁻¹. And a new resonance scattering spectral (RSS) method has been described for the determination of IO₃⁻ in salt samples. The spectral results have been verified that the formation of (RhG-I₃)_n association particles and solid-liquid interfaces are the main factor that cause the fluorescence quenching and resonance scattering effects.     

Ultra-sensitive determination of cyanide in surface water by gas chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry after derivatization with 2-(dimethylamino)ethanethiol

A gas chromatography–tandem mass spectrometric (GC–MS/MS) method has been established for the determination of cyanide in surface water. This method is based on the derivatization of cyanide with 2-(dimethylamino)ethanethiol in surface water. The following optimum reaction conditions were established: reagent dosage, 0.7 g L⁻¹ of 2-(dimethylamino)ethanethiol; pH 6; reaction carried out for 20 min at 60 °C. The organic derivative was extracted with 3 mL of ethyl acetate, and then measured by using GC–MS/MS. Under the established conditions, the detection and quantification limits were 0.02 μg L⁻¹ and 0.07 μg L⁻¹ in 10-mL of surface water, respectively. The calibration curve had a linear relationship relationship with y = 0.7140x + 0.1997 and r² = 0.9963 (for a working range of 0.07–10 μg L⁻¹) and the accuracy was in a range of 98–102%; the precision of the assay was less than 7% in surface water. The common ions Cl⁻, F⁻, Br⁻, NO₃⁻, SO₄²⁻, PO₄³⁻, K⁺, Na⁺, NH₄⁺, Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, Ba²⁺, Mn⁴⁺, Mn²⁺, Fe³⁺, Fe²⁺ and sea water did not interfere in cyanide detection, even when present in 1000-fold excess over the species. Cyanide was detected in a concentration range of 0.07–0.11 μg L⁻¹ in 6 of 10 surface water samples.     

Exploiting the bead injection LOV approach to carry out spectrophotometric assays in wine: application to the determination of iron

A sequential injection lab-on-valve (SI-LOV) system was used to develop a new methodology for the determination of iron in wine samples exploiting the bead injection (BI) concept for solid phase extraction and spectrophotometric measurement. Nitrilotriacetic Acid (NTA) Superflow resin was used to build the bead column of the flow through sensor. The iron (III) ions were retained by the bead column and react with SCN⁻ producing an intense red colour. The change in absorbance was monitored spectrophotometrically on the optosensor at 480 nm. It was possible to achieve a linear range of 0.09-5.0 mg L⁻¹ of iron, with low sample and reagent consumption; 500 μL of sample, 15 μmol of SCN⁻, and 9 μmol of H₂O₂, per assay. The proposed method was successfully applied to the determination of iron in wine, with no previous treatment other than dilution, and to other food samples.     

Solid phase extraction-spectrophotometric determination of fluoride in water samples using magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles

A new, sensitive, fast and simple method using magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (MIONs), as an adsorbent has been developed for extraction, preconcentration and determination of traces of fluoride ions. The determination method is based on the discoloration of Fe(III)-SCN complex with extracted fluoride ions which was subsequently monitored spectrophotometrically at λ_max = 458 nm. Various parameters affecting the adsorption of fluoride by the MIONs have been investigated, such as pH of the solution, type, volume and concentration of desorbing reagent, amount of adsorbent and interference effects. A linear response for the determination of fluoride was achieved in the concentration range of 0.040-1.250 μg mL⁻¹. The limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) for fluoride based on 3 times and 10 times the standard deviation of the blank (3S_b, 10S_b) were 0.015 and 0.042 μg mL⁻¹ (n = 20) for fluoride ion, respectively. A preconcentration factor of 50 was achieved in this method. The proposed procedure has been applied for determination of fluoride concentration in various water samples. The results obtained from this method were successfully compared with those provided by standard SPADNS method.