Highly sensitive and interference-free determination of bismuth in environmental samples by electrothermal vaporization atomic fluorescence spectrometry after hydride trapping on iridium-coated tungsten coil

Bismuthine was on-line trapped on tungsten coil and subsequently electrothermally vaporized for the determination by atomic fluorescence spectrometry (AFS). Several noble metals, including Pd, Rh, Pt, and Ir, were explored as permanent chemical modifier for tungsten coil on-line trapping. Investigation showed that Ir gave the best performance, in which bismuthine was on-line trapped on Ir-coated tungsten coil at 560 °C, and then released at 1550 °C for subsequent transfer to AFS by a mixture of Ar and H₂. Under optimum instrumental conditions, the trapping efficiency was found to be 73 ± 3%. With 120 s (12 mL sample volume) trapping time, a limit of detection (LOD) of 4 ng L^− 1 was obtained, compared to conventional hydride generation AFS (0.09 μg L^− 1); the LOD can be lowered down to 1 ng L^− 1 by increasing the trapping time to 480 s. The LOD was found to be better or at least comparable to literature levels involving on-line trapping and some other sophisticated instrumental methods such as ICP-MS and GF-AAS. A comprehensive interference study involving conventional hydride-forming elements and some transition metals was carried out, and the result showed that the gas phase interference from other hydride-forming elements was largely reduced, thanks to the use of on-line tungsten coil trapping. Finally, the proposed method was applied to the determination of bismuth in several biological and environmental standard reference materials, and a t-test shows that the analytical results by the proposed method have no significant difference from the certified values at the confidence level of 95%.     

Atomic absorption spectrometric determination of trace tellurium after hydride trapping on platinum-coated tungsten coil

In this work, a sensitive and simple method for the determination of tellurium was developed by hyphenation of electrically heated quartz tube atomic absorption spectrometry and tellurium hydride trapping on platinum-coated tungsten coil. With a mixture of Ar and H₂, tellurium hydride was transported to tungsten coil for trapping at 390 °C and releasing at 1200 °C. A limit of detection (LOD, 3σ) of 0.08 ng mL^{− 1} was obtained with 1 min trapping (1.5 mL sampling volume), and enhancement factor was 28 compared to conventional hydride generation atomic absorption spectrometry. The LOD was better or at least comparable to literature levels involving on-line trapping and some other sophisticated instrumental method such as graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GF-AAS) and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), and it can be further lowered down to 0.03 ng mL^{− 1} by increasing the trapping time to 4 min. The platinum coating was stable for 300 firings without sensitivity loss. Interference and its alleviation were studied in detail. The proposed method was applied to the determination of tellurium in several geological standard reference materials, and the results were found in good agreement with the certified values.     

Exploiting in situ hydride trapping in tungsten coil atomizer for Se and As determination in biological and water samples

A flow injection hydride manifold was coupled to a 150 W tungsten coil electrothermal atomizer for in situ hydride collection followed by selenium and arsenic determination by ET AAS. Rhodium (200 μg), thermally reduced over the double layer tungsten atomizer, was very efficient at collecting selenium or arsenic hydrides. Prior to analysis, biological samples were digested in closed-vessels microwave digestion system. Prior to the hydride formation, both selenium and arsenic were reduced to valence state (IV) and (III), respectively. The detection limit was 35 ng L⁻¹ for selenium and 110 ng L⁻¹ for arsenic. Sample throughput was 70 h⁻¹ using 30 s of hydride trapping time. Method accuracy was evaluated by analyzing biological-certified reference materials from the National Institute of Standard and Technology (SRM-1577a and SRM-1577b “bovine liver” and RM-8414 “bovine muscle powder”) and from the International Agency for Energy Atomic (A-13 “animal blood”) and one water-certified reference material from the National Institute of Standard and Technology (SRM-1640 trace elements in natural water). By applying a t-test, there was no significant difference at the 95% probability level between the results obtained with the proposed method and those certified values.     

Speciation analysis of inorganic arsenic by a multisyringe flow injection system with hydride generation-atomic fluorescence spectrometric detection

In this study, a new technique by hydride generation-atomic fluorescence spectrometry (HG-AFS) for determination and speciation of inorganic arsenic using multisyringe flow injection analysis (MSFIA) is reported. The hydride (arsine) was generated by injecting precise known volumes of sample, a reducing sodium tetrahydroborate solution (0.2%), hydrochloric acid (6 M) and a pre-reducing solution (potassium iodide 10% and ascorbic acid 0.2%) to the system using a multisyringe burette coupled with one multi-port selection valve. This solution is used to pre-reduce As(V) to As(III), when the task is to speciate As(III) and As(V). As(V) is determined by the difference between total inorganic arsenic and As(III). The reagents are dispensed into a gas-liquid separation cell. An argon flow delivers the arsine into the flame of an atomic fluorescence spectrometer. A hydrogen flow has been used to support the flame. Nitrogen has been employed as a drier gas (Fig. 1).Several variables such as sample and reagents volumes, flow rates and reagent concentrations were investigated in detail. A linear calibration graph was obtained for arsenic determination between 0.1 and 3 μg l⁻¹. The detection limit of the proposed technique (3σ_b/S) was 0.05 μg l⁻¹. The relative standard deviation (R.S.D.) of As at 1 μg l⁻¹ was 4.4 % (n = 15). A sample throughput of 10 samples per hour was achieved. This technique was validated by means of reference solid and water materials with good agreement with the certified values. Satisfactory results for speciation of As(III) and As(V) by means of the developed technique were obtained.     

Simultaneous determination of trace arsenic(III), antimony(III), total arsenic and antimony in Chinese medicinal herbs by hydride generation-double channel atomic fluorescence spectrometry

A new method was developed for simultaneous determination of trace arsenic and antimony in Chinese herbal medicines by hydride generation-double channel atomic fluorescence spectrometry with a Soxhlet extraction system and an n-octanol-water extraction system, respectively. The effects of analytical conditions on the fluorescence intensity were investigated and optimized. A water-dissolving and methanol-water-dissolving capability were compared. The contents of different species in five Chinese herbal medicines and their decoctions were analyzed. The concentration ratios of n-octanol-soluble As or Sb to water-soluble As or Sb were related to the kinds of medicine and the acidity of the decoction. Soxhlet extraction was found to be an effective method for plants pretreatment for determination of arsenic and antimony species in Chinese herbs; the interferences of coexisting ions were evaluated. The proposed method has the advantages of simple operation, high sensitivity and high speed, with 3σ detection limits of 0.094 μg g⁻¹ for As(III), 0.056 μg g⁻¹ for total As, 0.063 μg g⁻¹ for Sb(III) and 0.019 μg g⁻¹ for total Sb in a 1.0 g of the sample.     

Simultaneous determination of Cr,Ga, In and V in soil and water samples by tungsten coil atomic emission spectrometry

Tungsten coil atomic emission spectrometry is employed for the simultaneous determination of Cr, Ga, In, and V. Both V and In are detected by this technique for the first time. The atomizer is a simple, inexpensive tungsten filament extracted from a mass-produced, commercially-available 150 W, 15 V microscope bulb. A 25 µl sample aliquot is placed directly on the coil and a small constant-current power source is used to carefully dry, ash and atomize the sample. Analytical signals are detected with a Czerny-Turner spectrograph and a charge coupled device detector. Multiple emission lines from all 4 elements are monitored simultaneously in a 54 nm spectral window. Concentration limits of detection are in the µg l^− 1 range for all elements, and the absolute limits of detection are 0.2, 2, 0.5, and 10 ng for Cr, Ga, In, and V, respectively. Even lower values may be obtained by combining the signals for the multiple emission lines of a single element. The method precision is typically better than 5.0% relative standard deviation, and sometimes as good as 0.95% (Ga). Standard reference materials of soil and water are used to check the method accuracy. After a simple acid extraction, the values determined by the method presented no significant difference from the reported values at the 95% confidence level.     

Indirect determination of iodide by tungsten coil atomic emission spectrometry

The spectroscopic determination of iodide is a difficult challenge, especially in small sample volumes. The strongest transition lines for this element lie in the vacuum ultraviolet region of the spectrum, so most conventional instruments produce very weak signals. This work describes a tungsten coil atomic emission procedure for the indirect determination of iodide. A 25 μl aliquot of a solution containing a known amount of indium is deposited on the tungsten coil and dried with a simple heating program. Once the coil is dry, 25 μl of an iodide solution is added to the coil. The solution is dried and vaporized at high current. The atomic emission signal for In at 451.1 nm is monitored. In the presence of iodide, InI is formed and the In emission signal is attenuated. This attenuation is proportional to iodide concentration with a method detection limit of 0.6 mg l^{− 1} iodide using an In concentration of 10 mg l^{− 1}, and 3 mg l^{− 1} iodide using an In concentration of 50 mg l^{− 1}. Linear calibration curves span a range of two orders of magnitude. Analysis of a deionized water sample spiked with 50 mg l^{− 1} iodide gives a recovery of 100% and a precision of 5.5% relative standard deviation. Analysis of a tap water sample spiked with 50 mg l^{− 1} iodide gives a recovery of 140% and a precision of 7.1% relative standard deviation. The poor accuracy for the tap water analysis may arise from the reaction of In with other halides in the sample. This is the first report of determination of a halogen using the tungsten coil atomizer.     

Speciation analysis of inorganic arsenic by microchip capillary electrophoresis coupled with hydride generation atomic fluorescence spectrometry

A novel method for speciation analysis of inorganic arsenic was developed by on-line hyphenating microchip capillary electrophoresis (chip-CE) with hydride generation atomic fluorescence spectrometry (HG-AFS). Baseline separation of As(III) and As(V) was achieved within 54 s by the chip-CE in a 90 mm long channel at 2500 V using a mixture of 25 mmol l(-1) H3BO3 and 0.4 mmol l(-1) CTAB (pH 8.9) as electrolyte buffer. The precisions (RSD, n=5) ranged from 1.9 to 1.4% for migration time, 2.1 to 2.7% for peak area, and 1.8 to 2.3% for peak height for the two arsenic species at 3.0 mg l(-1) (as As) level. The detection limits (3sigma) for As(III) and As(V) based on peak height measurement were 76 and 112 microg l(-1) (as As), respectively. The recoveries of the spikes (1 mg l(-1) (as As) of As(III) and As(V)) in four locally collected water samples ranged from 93.7 to 106%.     

Arsenic speciation in natural water samples by coprecipitation-hydride generation atomic absorption spectrometry combination

A speciation procedure for As(III) and As(V) ions in environmental samples has been presented. As(V) was quantitatively recovered on aluminum hydroxide precipitate. After oxidation of As(III) by using dilute KMnO₄, the developed coprecipitation was applied to determination of total arsenic. Arsenic(III) was calculated as the difference between the total arsenic content and As(V) content. The determination of arsenic levels was performed by hydride generation atomic absorption spectrometry (HG-AAS). The analytical conditions for the quantitative recoveries of As(V) including pH, amount of aluminum as carrier element and sample volume, etc. on the presented coprecipitation system were investigated. The effects of some alkaline, earth alkaline, metal ions and also some anions were also examined. Preconcentration factor was calculated as 25. The detection limits (LOD) based on three times sigma of the blank (N: 21) for As(V) was 0.012 μg L⁻¹. The satisfactory results for the analysis of arsenic in NIST SRM 2711 Montana soil and LGC 6010 Hard drinking water certified reference materials for the validation of the method was obtained. The presented procedure was successfully applied to real samples including natural waters for arsenic speciation.     

Non-chromatographic speciation analysis of arsenic and antimony in milk hydride generation atomic fluorescence spectrometry

A rapid, high sensitivity method has been developed for the determination of As(III), As(V), Sb(III) and Sb(V) in milk samples by using hydride generation atomic fluorescence spectrometry. The method is based on the leaching of As and Sb from milk through the sonication of samples with aqua regia followed by direct determination of the corresponding hydrides both before and after reduction with KI. It was confirmed by recovery experiments on spiked commercially available samples that neither the reduced nor the oxidized forms of the elements under study or mixtures of the two oxidation states were modified by the room temperature sample treatment with aqua regia. The methodologies developed provided 3σ limit of detection values of 8.1, 10.3, 5.4 and 7.7 ng l⁻¹ for As(III), As(V), Sb(III) and Sb(V) in the diluted samples. Average relative standard deviation values of 5.7, 5.5, 8.2 and 4.7% were found for determination of As(III), As(V), Sb(III) and Sb(V) in commercially available samples of different composition and origin containing from 3.5 to 13.6 ng g⁻¹ total As and from 4.9 to 11.8 ng g⁻¹ total Sb, it being confirmed that As(V) and Sb(V) are the main species present in the samples analyzed (62±5 and 73±5%, respectively). The time required to determine As and Sb species in milk involves 10 min sonication and 30 min prereduction but these steps can be carried out for several sample simultaneously. Additionally the fluorescence measurement step involves less than 20 min for three replicates of all the four measurements required. So, in less than 2 h it is possible to determine the content of As(III), As(V), Sb(III) and Sb(V) in four samples.     

On-line preconcentration for capillary electrophoresis-atomic fluorescence spectrometric determination of arsenic compounds

An on-line preconcentration method was developed for capillary electrophoresis (CE) with hydride generation-atomic fluorescence spectrometric (HG-AFS) detection of arsenite, arsenate, dimethylarsenic acid, and monomethylarsenic acid. These arsenic species were negatively charged in the sample solution with high pH. When the potential was applied to the electrophoretic capillary, the negatively charged analyte ions moved faster and stacked at the boundary of sample and CE buffer with low pH. So, high sample pH in combination with low buffer pH allowed the injection of large sample volumes (approximately 1100 nL). Comparison of the preconcentration of analyte solution, prepared with doubly deionized water and that prepared with lake or river water, indicated that preconcentration was independent on the original matrix. With injection of approximately 1100 nL sample, an enrichment factor of 37-50-fold was achieved for the four species. Detection limits for the four arsenic species ranged from 5.0 to 9.3 microg.L(-1). Precisions (RSDs, n = 5) were in the range of 4.9-6.7% for migration time, 4.7-11% for peak area, and 4.3-7.1% for peak height, respectively. The recoveries of the four species in locally collected water solution spiked with 0.1 microg.mL(-1) (as As) ranged from 83 to 109%.     

Chemical modifiers in arsenic determination in biological materials by tungsten coil electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry

Palladium, iridium, and rhodium are evaluated as possible chemical modifiers in the determination of As in digest solutions of biological materials (human hair and clam) by tungsten coil electrothermal atomic absorption spectrophotometry (TCA-AAS). The modifier in solution was applied onto the coil and thermally pre-reduced; the pre-reduction conditions, the amount of modifier, and the thermal program were optimized. Palladium was not satisfactory, whereas Ir and Rh were effective modifiers and rendered better relative sensitivity for As by a factor of 1.4 and 1.9, respectively compared to the case without modifier. Upon optimization of thermal conditions for As in pre-reduced Ir (2.0 µg) and Rh (2.0 µg) modifiers and in the digest solutions of the study matrices, Rh (2.0 µg) was more effective modifier and was selected as such. The mean within-day repeatability was 2.8% in consecutive measurements (25–100 µg L^–1) (3 cycles, each of n=6) and confirmed good short-term stability of the absorbance measurements. The mean reproducibility was 4.4% (n=20 in a 3-day period) and the detection limit (3 _blank/slope) was 29 pg (n=15). The useful coil lifetime in Rh modifier was extended to 300–400 firings. Validation was by determination of As in the certified reference material (CRM) of Oyster tissue solution with a percentage relative error (E _rel%) of 2% and percentage relative standard deviation (RSD%) of 3% (n=4), and by analytical recovery of As spiked in CRM of human hair [94±8% (n=4)]. The methodology is simple, fast (sample readout frequency 21 h^–1), reliable, of low cost, and was applied to the determination of As in hair samples of exposed and unexposed workers.     

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

A software-controlled time-based multisyringe flow-injection system for total inorganic arsenic determination by hydride generation atomic fluorescence spectrometry (HGAFS) has been developed. By using a multisyringe burette coupled with one multiport selection valve, the time-based injection provides precise known volumes of sample, a reducing sodium tetrahydroborate solution and a pre-reducing solution which are dispensed into a gas-liquid separation cell. An argon flow delivers the arsine into the flame of an atomic fluorescence spectrometer. A hydrogen flow has been used to support the flame.Linear calibration graphs for arsenic concentrations between 0.25 and 12 μg l⁻¹ were obtained. The detection limit of the proposed technique (3σ_b/S) was 0.07 μg l⁻¹. A sample throughput of 36 samples/h (108 injections) has been achieved. The proposed technique has been validated by means of reference solid and water materials with good agreement with the certified values. This method was compared with those reported in previous sequential injection analysis (SIA) and flow-injection analysis (FIA) systems. The proposed method offers a number of advantages in front the usual AFS applications, which are mainly a higher sampling frequency and a significant reduction in reagent consumption.     

树脂分离-氢化物发生-原子荧光光谱法测定食品中无机砷、一甲基胂和二甲基胂

建立了用阴离子交换树脂分离-氢化物发生原子荧光光谱法测定食品中无机砷、一甲基胂和二甲基胂的方法.分别从样品上样条件及二甲基胂、一甲基胂、 As(Ⅲ)和As(Ⅴ)分离条件进行了优化.研究了树脂处理程序对分离的影响,并探讨了共存离子对测定砷的干扰和消除的方法.对方法的适用范围做了研究.本方法具有操作简便、快速、灵敏度高等优点.检出限(以砷计)分别为: 无机砷0.34 μg/L,一甲基胂0.57 μg/L,二甲基胂0.46 μg/L.     

Simple and sensitive determination of arsenic by volatile arsenic trichloride generation atomic fluorescence spectrometry

A simple, sensitive and interference-free method was proposed for the determination of arsenic, based on the generation of volatile arsenic trichloride coupled with atomic fluorescence spectrometry. Thiourea, together with l-ascorbic acid, was used to reduce As(V) to As(III), and the chloride generation was based on the reaction between As(III) and hydrochloric acid. Under the optimized experimental conditions, the present procedure allows for the quantification of arsenic in the concentration range of 0.01–4.0 mg L⁻¹, with a limit of detection (3σ) of 6.0 μg L⁻¹. The relative standard deviation (R.S.D.) is 4.0% for 0.1 mg L⁻¹ arsenic (n = 7). Finally, the proposed method was successfully applied to the determination of arsenic in several certified reference samples (stainless steel, alloy steel, copper alloy and water sample) and real samples (brass material and spiked cobalt material), with analytical results well-agreed with those by ICP-MS.     

Development of a new electrochemical hydride generator with tungsten wire cathode for the determination of As and Sb by atomic fluorescence spectrometry

A novel electrochemical hydride generator has been developed for the determination of As and Sb. This newly devised hydride generator is constructed from a flowing electrolytic cell, in which the tungsten wire is selected as cathode. Compared with some cathode material usually used in electrochemical hydride generator, the tungsten cathode is of better interference tolerance, corrosion-resistant and longer working time. The characteristics of the cathode material, hydride generating efficiency and interferences of concomitant have been studied in detail. The detection limits (3σ) of As and Sb in sample solution were 0.10 μg L⁻¹ and 0.15 μg L⁻¹, the precisions for 11 replicate measurements of 20 μg L⁻¹ As and Sb were 1.3% and 1.7%. The electrochemical hydride generator coupled with atomic fluorescence spectrometry has been applied to the determination of total As and Sb in tobacco samples.     

Determination of arsenic in dinosaur skeleton fossils by hydride generation atomic fluorescence spectrometry

Hydride generation atomic fluorescence spectrometry was for the first time utilized to determine trace toxic element arsenic in the skeleton fossils of four dinosaurs unearthed in Sichuan Province of China. The instrumental limit of detection (LOD) for arsenic was 0.03 μg/L under optimal experimental conditions, which compared favorably to that by ICP-AES and ETAAS. The samples were digested with aqua regia in boiling water bath. The recoveries of standard addition were found to be from 97 to 109%, and the analytical results were found in good agreement with those by ICP-AES. It is a simple, reliable, sensitive yet relatively inexpensive analytical method, compared to ICP-AES, ICP-MS or ETAAS. Interesting analytical results were found that the arsenic concentrations were all abnormally high in the skeleton fossils. The established analytical method and the analytical results may be helpful in revealing the mystery of the mass extinction of the dinosaur fauna. The analytical results, together with other data available to date, supported the argument that the arsenic toxicosis could be a contributing factor for the mass extinction of the dinosaur fauna in Sichuan Province of China.     

Determination of total arsenic in seawater by hydride generation atomic fluorescence spectrometry

In this work, the determination of total As in seawater by hydride generation atomic fluorescence spectrometry was studied. The influence of the chemical, flow and instrumental parameters were investigated and optimized. The pre-reduction of As(V) to As(III) was performed using KI plus ascorbic acid in 3.5 mol L^− 1 HCl medium. No multiplicative interference was present and external aqueous calibration could be used. The limit of detection was 36 ng L^− 1, while the repeatability was 2% (n = 10), at a 500 ng L^− 1 concentration level. The sample throughput was 15 h^− 1 if triplicate measurements were made. The accuracy was assessed by the analysis of a seawater certified reference material and excellent agreement between the obtained and certified values was verified. The procedure was used for the analysis of seawater offshore samples collected at the Brazilian coast and results ranging from 860 to 1200 ng L^− 1 were found.     

顺序注射氢化物发生-原子荧光光谱法同时测定硒和砷的研究

建立了一种顺序注射氢化物发生-原子荧光光谱法测定试样中Se和As的方法,同时讨论了共存离子的干扰情况.在最佳实验条件下,Se和As的检出限分别为0.16和0.095 μg/L,加标回收率为92.4%～104.7%.     

Eggshell membrane-based solid-phase extraction combined with hydride generation atomic fluorescence spectrometry for trace arsenic(V) in environmental water samples

The eggshell membrane (ESM) contains several surface functional groups such as amines, amides and carboxylic groups with potential as SPE adsorbent for the retention of target species of interest. In this paper, the potential use of ESM, a typical biomaterial, as solid-phase extraction (SPE) adsorbent is evaluated for analysis of trace arsenic(V) in environmental water samples in combination with hydride generation atomic fluorescence spectrometry (HG-AFS). In order to obtain the satisfactory recovery of arsenic(V), various parameters including the desorption and enrichment conditions such as pH, the flow rate and the volume of sample solution, the amount of ESM and the content of sodium chloride were systematically optimized and the effects of co-existed ions were also investigated in detail. Under the optimal conditions, arsenic(V) could be easily extracted by the ESM packed cartridge and the breakthrough adsorption capacity was found to be 3.9 μg g⁻¹. The favorable limit of detection (LOD) for arsenic(V) was found to be 0.001 μg L⁻¹ with an enrichment factor of 33.3, and the relative standard deviations (R.S.Ds) was 2.1% for 0.6 μg L⁻¹ arsenic (n = 11). The reproducibility among columns was satisfactory (R.S.D. among columns is less than 5%). The proposed method has been successfully applied to analysis of arsenic(V) in aqueous environmental samples, which suggests the ESM can be an excellent SPE adsorbent for arsenic(V) pretreatment and enrichment from real water samples.