Application of a fractionary factorial design to the determination of tin in lubricating oils by continuous flow hydride generation-atomic absorption spectrometry

The determination of wear metals and metalloids in used lubricating oils allows the prediction of equipment failure. A number of procedures to determine wear metals in lubricating oils by atomic spectrometry has been published. Industry has lately shown a special interest in the determination of tin, since its appearance at certain levels in used oils indicates severe engine wear. Therefore, a method for the determination of the total tin content in used lubricating oils by hydride generation-atomic absorption spectrometry (HG-AAS) is described. Unused marine lubricating oils spiked with the analyte were digested in closed vessels in a microwave oven and the diluted product was used for continuous stannane generation. There are many factors that influence effective SnH₄ generation; therefore, fractionary factorial design was used to obtain an adequate sensitivity and also to stabilize the signal. Six variables were taken into account and a 2^6–2 _IV design was used with spiked samples containing 30 ng g^–1 Sn. The reproducibility, stability, calibration curve and limit of detection were established. The method was applied to different kinds of used lubricating oils. In all cases, the results were higher than those obtained in the industry by simple dilution. Received: 30 September 1998 / Revised: 22 January 1999 / Accepted: 27 January 1999     

Determination of total tin in river water by hydride generation-atomic absorption spectrometry

Summary The total tin in river water was determined by hydride generation-atomic absorption spectrometry in sulphuric acid medium. The water was concentrated with nitric and sulphuric acids. Interference from copper and iron was eliminated by extracting copper with a carbon tetrachloride solution of zinc dibenzyldithiocarbamate and by complexing iron with 1,10-phenanthroline in solution. The acidities of the sample solutions were checked by weighing the residue in the flasks during the acid digestion so that the acidities of the sample solutions became approximately equal to those of the calibration solutions. When a 1,000 mg/l tin(IV) solution was diluted with water, the hydrolysed tin could not be determined entirely as the total tin by acidification with sulphuric acid, but it could be recovered completely by digestion even after 5 days. Thus digestion is essential when determining the total tin in water.     

Direct lead determination in wine by hydride generation-atomic absorption spectrometry

In this work, a method for direct lead determination in wine, without wet or dry sample attack, by lead hydride generation-atomic absorption spectrometry, is proposed. To do this, ammonium persulphate is employed as the oxidizing agent, and sodium borohydride is used as the reducing agent. The pH value must be 1.0.Lead content in wine is determined by the analyte addition technique, and the result is compared with those obtained by three different methods.     

Ultratrace determination of tin by hydride generation in-atomizer trapping atomic absorption spectrometry

A quartz multiatomizer with its inlet arm modified to serve as a trap (trap-and-atomizer device) was employed to trap tin hydride and subsequently to volatilize collected analyte species with atomic absorption spectrometric detection. Generation, atomization and preconcentration conditions were optimized and analytical figures of merit of both on-line atomization as well as preconcentration modes were quantified. Preconcentration efficiency of 95 ± 5% was found. The detection limits reached were 0.029 and 0.14 ng mL⁻¹ Sn, respectively, for 120 s preconcentration period and on-line atomization mode without any preconcentration. The interference extent of other hydride forming elements (As, Se, Sb and Bi) on tin determination was found negligible in both modes of operation. The applicability of the developed preconcentration method was verified by Sn determination in a certified reference material as well as by analysis of real samples.     

Investigations for the determination of tin by flow injection hydride generation atomic-absorption spectrometry

It could be shown that the pre- or double peaks which are frequently observed in the determination of tin by hydride generation atomic-absorption spectrometry are not due to reagent contamination or memory effects. Rather they originate from the silica material used to make the quartz tube atomizer. At elevated temperatures the tin diffuses to the surface and it can be volatilized and atomized only in the presence of hydrogen. The height of the pre-peak depends, among other things, on the time for which the quartz tube atomizer has been at a high temperature without hydrogen. The pre-peaks disappear when argon with 10% (v/v) hydrogen is used as the purge gas. In flow injection the pre-peaks can be separated in time from the analytical signal by using a program in which hydrogen is generated by reaction of sodium tetrahydroborate reluctant solution with the acid carrier prior to the injection of the sample. Also investigated was the influence of the acid and sodium tetrahydroborate concentration on sensitivity and freedom from interferences. Best results were obtained when a saturated boric acid solution containing 0.1M hydrochloric acid was used for standards, samples and carrier solution, and a 0.4% (m/v) sodium tetrahydroborate solution with 0.05% (m/v) sodium hydroxide as the reluctant. Under these conditions tin could be determined accurately in the range 0.008-0.1% in low alloy steel standard reference materials, with matrix-free standard solutions for calibration.     

氢化物发生-原子荧光光谱法间接测定痕量碘的研究

提出了氢化物发生-原子荧光光谱法间接测定痕量碘的新方法,在弱酸性介质中,以Ⅰ--[Cd(Phen)3]2 -硝基苯为萃取体系,经0.24 mol/L的HCl反萃取后,用原子荧光光谱法测定镉量,从而间接测定碘.方法的线性范围为0～20 μg/L;相对标准偏差为8.5%;检出限为0.8 μg/L;回收率为74.63%～90.80%.方法已用于测定自来水中的碘量.     

Semi-automatic determination of tin in marine materials by continuous flow hydride generation inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry

 A semi-automated continuous flow hydride generation system with inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) was used for the determination of tin in marine materials. The effects of acids (H₂SO₄ and HCl) were studied. The analytical parameters were thoroughly investigated. Under optimized conditions, the detection limit is 0.4 ng/ml. Interferences from transition elements were investigated and seven masking reagents were tested. L-cysteine hydrochloride monohydrate (1%) was used to mask the interferences from foreign ions. Finally, the accuracy, checked with a marine standard reference material obtained from the National Research Council (NRC), was within the certified value. Received: 23 April 1996/Revised: 8 July 1996/Accepted: 15 July 1996     

Multisyringe flow injection system for total inorganic selenium determination by hydride generation-atomic fluorescence spectrometry

A new multisyringe flow injection system for total inorganic selenium determination by hydride generation-atomic fluorescence spectrometry (HGAFS) has been proposed. The flow methodology is based on the simultaneous injection of sample in the acid media (50% HCl), a reducing sodium tetrahydroborate solution (0.18%) and a solution of hydrochloric acid (50%) which are dispensed into a gas-liquid separation cell by using a multisyringe burette coupled with one multiport selection valve. The usage of the time-based injection increases the sample throughput and provides precise known volumes of sample. The hydride of selenium is delivered into the flame of an atomic fluorescence spectrometer by means of an argon flow. A hydrogen flow has been used to support the flame.The technique can be applied over a wide range of concentrations of selenium between 0.1 and 3.5 μg l⁻¹ with good repeatability (relative standard deviation (R.S.D.) values 4.6-7% for 1 μg l⁻¹ of Se). The detection limit of the developed technique (3σ_b/S) was 0.01 μg l⁻¹. A sample throughput was 28 samples per hour (84 injections). The multisyringe technique has been validated by means of reference solid (sea lettuce) and water (hard drinking water) materials with good agreement with certified values. The analytical features were compared with those obtained by using of the commercial flow injection analysis (FIA) system. The proposed method provides a higher sampling frequency and a significant reduction of reagent and sample consumption in front the flow injection application.     

Determination of traces of arsenic and selenium by hydride generation-atomic absorption spectrometry

Summary Hydrides evolved in the mixing coil were stored at a pressure of up to 0.4 atm in a separating funnel and swept into an electrically heated furnace. This process caused effective reduction of the hydride forming elements and minimized the consumption of the reagents. A decrease in the sensitivity by deterioration of the furnace was not observed, because traces of water were introduced into it. The sensitivities at 1% absorption for As(V) and Se(IV) were 0.2 ppb and 0.6 ppb, respectively. Accuracies checked with biological standard reference materials were within the certified values. The proposed method was applied for the determination of arsenic and selenium in river water.

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Bestimmung von Arsen- und Selenspuren durch AAS mit Hydriderzeugung

Zusammenfassung Die in der Mischwendel erzeugten Hydride werden bei einem Druck bis zu 0,4 atm in einem Scheidetrichter gesammelt und von dort in den elektrisch beheizten Ofen geleitet. Durch dieses Verfahren wird eine wirkungsvolle Reduktion der hydridbildenden Elemente erreicht und der Reagensverbrauch eingeschränkt. Eine Abnahme der Empfindlichkeit durch Beeinträchtigung des Ofens wurde nicht beobachtet, da Wasserspuren in den Ofen gelangten. Die Empfindlichkeit bei 1% Absorption betrug 0,2 ppb für As(V) und 0,6 ppb für Se(IV). Die Richtigkeit der Ergebnisse wurde mit Hilfe von Standard-Referenzmaterialien nachgeprüft. Die Resultate lagen im Bereich der zertifizierten Werte. Das vorgeschlagene Verfahren wurde zur Arsen- und Selenbestimmung in Flußwasser angewendet.

     

Analytical applications of emulsions. determination of lead in lubricating oils by atomic absorption spectrometry

Lead used in lubricating oils (ca. 0.2%) is determined by direct nebulization of oil-water emulsions into the flame of an atomic absorption spectrometer. The method is as accurate and precise as a similar method involving mineralization of the oil, and has the advantage of simplicity, speed and the use of aqueous standards for calibration.     

Determination of selenomethionine by high performance liquid chromatography-direct hydride generation-atomic absorption spectrometry

A simple, reliable, trace determination of selenomethionine (Semet) based on a direct hydride generation atomic absorption spectrometric method was developed using sodium tetrahydroborate (0.3% in 0.2% NaOH) and hydrochloric acid (3 M). The method excluded any chemical pretreatment prior to hydride generation (HG). The optimized HG system was successfully coupled with the HPLC system. The detection limit (3σ of blank; n=5), reproducibility (R.S.D. of three successive analyses/day, performed on three different days), and repeatability (R.S.D. of three successive analyses) of the method were 1.08 ng ml⁻¹, 9.8% for 9.04 ng ml⁻¹ and 2.1–9.5% for 30.0–1.27 ng ml⁻¹ Semet as Se (standards prepared in Milli-Q water). Calibration graph was linear up to 30 ng ml⁻¹. This HPLC-HG-AAS method is very promising and successfully determined Semet (spiked) in human urine.     

Determination of cadmium by flow injection-chemical vapor generation-atomic absorption spectrometry

A method was developed for the generation of a “cold vapor” of cadmium by means of flow injection-chemical vapor generation from aqueous samples, the determination being conducted with an atomic absorption spectrometer (Pyrex glass T-cell). Several gas-liquid separator designs, atomizer designs, and the effect of several reagents previously reported as sensitivity enhancers (including cobalt, nickel, thiourea and didodecyl-dimethylammonium bromide) were investigated. The limit of detection, calculated as the concentration giving a signal equal to three times the standard deviation of the blank, was 16 ng L^–1, and the relative standard deviation was 1.4% for a concentration of 2 μg L^–1 and 3.8% for 0.1 μg L^–1. The addition of nickel and thiourea to the samples provided improved tolerance to the interference of coexisting ions. Two NIST certified reference materials, Montana Soil and Apple Leaves (respectively containing ¶41.7 ± 0.25 mg kg^–1 Cd and 0.013 ± 0.002 mg kg^–1 Cd) were accurately analyzed. The interference of lead was overcome by coprecipitation with barium sulfate, and the experimental values obtained were 41 ± 1 mg kg^–1 Cd and 0.013 ± 0.002 mg kg^–1 Cd, respectively.     

Multicommutation flow techniques in the hydride generation-atomic fluorescence determination of arsenic

This review outlines automated methodologies developed for measuring arsenic in environmental samples. We report the state of the art of the most significant methods exploiting multicommutation flow techniques coupled to hydride generation-atomic fluorescence determination. We review analytical methods used and present a comparative evaluation of them. We also discuss the on-line pre-concentration procedure as being of particular interest in the development of fully automated methods.     

Determination of cadmium by flow injection-chemical vapor generation-atomic absorption spectrometry

A method was developed for the generation of a "cold vapor" of cadmium by means of flow injection-chemical vapor generation from aqueous samples, the determination being conducted with an atomic absorption spectrometer (Pyrex glass T-cell). Several gas-liquid separator designs, atomizer designs, and the effect of several reagents previously reported as sensitivity enhancers (including cobalt, nickel, thiourea and didodecyl-dimethylammonium bromide) were investigated. The limit of detection, calculated as the concentration giving a signal equal to three times the standard deviation of the blank, was 16 ng L(-1), and the relative standard deviation was 1.4% for a concentration of 2 microg L(-1) and 3.8% for 0.1 microg L(-1). The addition of nickel and thiourea to the samples provided improved tolerance to the interference of coexisting ions. Two NIST certified reference materials, Montana Soil and Apple Leaves (respectively containing 41.7+/-0.25 mg kg(-1) Cd and 0.013+/-0.002 mg kg(-1) Cd) were accurately analyzed. The interference of lead was overcome by coprecipitation with barium sulfate, and the experimental values obtained were 41+/-1 mg kg(-1) Cd and 0.013+/-0.002 mg kg(-1) Cd, respectively.     

Decomposition of organoarsenic compounds by using a microwave oven and subsequent determination by flow injection-hydride generation-atomic absorption spectrometry

Environmentally important organoarsenicals such as arsenobetaine, arsenocholine and tetramethylarsonium ion do not form volatile hydrides under the commonly used analytical conditions on treatment with borohydride and it has been difficult to determine their concentrations without further derivatization. This paper describes a rapid method which completely decomposes and oxidizes these arsenicals to arsenate by using potassium persulphate and sodium hydroxide with the aid of microwave energy. The quantitative decomposition of these species permits their determination at low nanogram levels, by hydride generation atomic absorption spectromety (HG AA). A new hydride generator which has high efficiency and minimum dead volume and therefore is suitable for flow injection analysis (FIA) is also described. A system combining flow injection analysis, online microwave oven digestion, and hydride generation followed by atomic absorption measurement, is developed. This system is capable of performing analysis at a sample throughput of 100-120 per hour. Calibration curves were linear from 10 to 200 ng cm^?3 of arsenic and the detection limit was 5 ng cm^?3 for a 100-μ injection or 0.5 ng of arsenic. All ten organoarsenic compounds studied gave arsenate as the decomposition product, which was confirmed by using molybdenum blue photometric measurement.     

Preconcentration and determination of inorganic arsenic using a multisyringe flow injection system and hydride generation-atomic fluorescence spectrometry

A new multisyringe flow injection system for inorganic arsenic determination at trace levels by hydride generation-atomic fluorescence spectrometry (HGAFS) is presented. Preconcentration on a solid-phase was carried out using a column packed with an anion-exchange resin (Amberlite IRA-410). The reagents are dispensed to the system using a multisyringe burette coupled with two multi-port selection valves.

Different parameters were changing in order to make the system as effective as possible. An analytical curve was obtained for arsenic determination between 50 and 2000 ng l⁻¹. This new approach improved five times the sensitivity over a MSFIA–HGAFS technique developed previously by the authors. Detection limit of the proposed technique was (3σ_b/S) of 30 ng l⁻¹. The relative standard deviation (R.S.D.) of As at 1 μg l⁻¹ was 4.8% (n=7). A sample throughput of 10 h⁻¹ has been achieved. The proposed method has been applied to different reference solid and water materials with satisfactory results.     

The determination of trace metals in lubricating oils by atomic spectrometry

The determination of trace metals in lubricating oils using atomic spectrometric methods is reviewed. The importance of such analyses for technical diagnostics as well as the specific sample characteristics related to the analyte form (metallo-organic and metal particles) is discussed. Problems related to sample pre-treatment for appropriate sample introduction and calibration are addressed as well as the strategies to overcome them. Recent trends aimed at simplifying sample manipulation are presented. The applications and scope of AAS, ICP OES and ICP MS techniques for the determination of trace metals in lubricating oil is individually discussed, as well as some present instrumental trends.     

Use of a surfactant in the determination of arsenic by flow injection hydride generation atomic absorption spectrometry

The possible benefits of the addition of an anionic surfactant, didodecyldimethylammonium bromide, in the determination of arsenic, by flow injection hydride generation atomic absorption spectrometry using a flame-heated quartz tube atomizer, were studied in the light of previous reports concerning the effects of surfactants on chemical vapor generation procedures. Concentrations of arsenic between 5 and 30 μg l⁻¹ were used. Calibrations in the presence and absence of the surfactant in the sample solution were not significantly different, either for the case where vesicles were formed in the presence of the analyte or where they were preformed in the surfactant solution and then added to the analyte. The surfactant had no effect on recoveries in the presence of copper, nickel or bismuth. The addition of the surfactant to the acid carrier and/or borohydride streams had no effect. It is proposed that there may be a greater role for surfactants in the improvement of the processes by which the hydride is transferred to the bulk gas phase than has been attributed in previous reports on this subject.     

Use of perchloric acid as a reaction medium for speciation of arsenic by hydride generation-atomic absorption spectrometry

Simple and inexpensive methods for the speciation of arsenite, arsenate, monomethylarsonic acid (MMA) and dimethylarsinic acid (DMA) in environmental water samples were developed. In these methods a hydride generation-atomic absorption spectrometry (HG-AAS) technique was employed and perchloric acid (as a reaction medium), L-cysteine (as a pre-reducing agent for a certain contact time between its addition and analysis) and sodium tetrahydroborate(III) (NaBH4, as a reducing agent) were used. The use of L-cysteine greatly enhances the absorption signals of all four arsenic species at low acid concentration (0.001-0.04 M). The methods developed for the determination of total arsenic and total inorganic arsenic and speciation of the four arsenic species in environmental water samples are as follows. (i) DMA: 0.005 M acid and 0.04% NaBH4 in the absence of L-cysteine. DMA can also be speciated in the presence of L-cysteine as follows: 2 M acid, 2.5% L-cysteine after a contact time of approximately 5 min and 0.6% NaBH4. (ii) As(III): 5 M acid and 0.08% NaBH4 in the absence of L-cysteine. (iii) Total inorganic arsenic (As(III) + As(V)]: 8 M acid and 0.6% NaBH4 in the absence of L-cysteine. (iv) Total arsenic: 0.01 M acid, 5% L-cysteine after a contact time of 5 min and 2% NaBH4. (v) MMA: 8 M acid, 3% L-cysteine after a contact time of 50 min and 0.6% NaBH4. (vi) As(V): by difference. Detection limits and recoveries of added spikes for all analyses were found to be 0.5-1.7 ppb and 90-112% respectively.     

Determination of major antimony species in seawater by continuous flow injection hydride generation atomic absorption spectrometry

The capabilities and limitations of the continuous flow injection hydride generation technique, coupled to atomic absorption spectrometry, for the speciation of major antimony species in seawater, were investigated. Two pre-concentration techniques were examined. After continuous flow injection hydride generation and collection onto a graphite tube coated with iridium, antimony was determined by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry. The low detection limits obtained (∼5 ng l⁻¹ for Sb(III) and ∼10 ng l⁻¹ for Sb(V) for 2.5 ml seawater samples) permitted the determination of Sb(III) and total antimony in seawater with the use of selective hydride generation and on-line UV photooxidation. The number of samples that can be analyzed is about 15 per hour for Sb(III) determinations and 10 per hour for total antimony determinations. The analysis of seawater samples showed that Sb(V) was the predominant species, even in the presence of important biological activity.