Comparison of modifiers for determination of arsenic, antimony and selenium by atomic absorption spectrometry with atomization in graphite tube or hydride generation and in-situ preconcentration in graphite tube

The study was performed to compare the effect of magnesium modifier (magnesium nitrate) with that of other modifiers (palladium nitrate and nickel nitrate) in determination of arsenic, antimony and selenium by atomic absorption spectroscopy with atomization in a graphite tube, with generation of hydrides and in situ preconcentration in a graphite tube. The assumed criterion of a modifier performance was the magnitude of the analytical signal. It was found that in determinations with atomization in a graphite furnace the effects of all these modifiers were comparable, while in those with hydride generation and in situ preconcentration in a graphite tube the magnesium modifier showed poorer performance (25% decrease of the analytical signal). In determinations of arsenic and selenium the analytical signal obtained with magnesium salt as a modifier was comparable with those obtained in the presence of all other modifiers.     

Multiple microflame quartz tube atomizer: Study and minimization of interferences in quartz tube atomizers in hydride generation atomic absorption spectrometry

A systematic study was performed to evaluate the performance of a multiple microflame (MM) quartz tube atomizer (QTA) for minimizing interferences and to improve the extent of the calibration range using a batch system for hydride generation atomic absorption spectrometry (HG AAS). A comparison of the results with conventional QTA on the determination of antimony, arsenic, bismuth and selenium was performed. The interference of As, Bi, Se, Pb, Sn and Sb was investigated using QTA and MMQTA atomizers. Better performance was found for MMQTA, and no loss of linearity was observed up to 160 ng for Se and Sb and 80 ng for As, corresponding to an enhancement of two times for both analytes when compared to QTA (analyte mass refers to a volume of 200 μl). For Bi, the linear range was the same for QTA and MMQTA (140 ng). With the exception of Bi, the tolerance limits for hydride-forming elements were improved more than 50% in comparison to the conventional QTA system, especially for the interferences of As, Sb and Se. However, for Sn as an interferent, no difference was observed in the determination of Se and Sb using the MMQTA system. The use of MMQTA-HG AAS complied with the relatively high sensitivity of conventional QTA and also provided better performance for interferences and the linear range of calibration.     

Stibine and bismuthine trapping in quartz tube atomizers for atomic absorption spectrometry — Method optimization and analytical applications

The compact trap-and-atomizer device was employed to trap stibine and bismuthine, and subsequently to volatilize collected analyte and atomize it for atomic absorption spectrometric detection. The device is actually the multiple microflame quartz tube atomizer (multiatomizer) with inlet arm modified to serve as the trap and to accommodate the oxygen delivery capillary employed for burning out hydrogen during the trapping step. The optimization of Sb and Bi collection in the device is presented based on a study of the influence of relevant experimental parameters on preconcentration efficiency of both analytes. The parameters studied were: (1) trap temperature during trapping and (2) hydrogen flow rate and (3) trap temperature during volatilization and (4) the stability of the trapped analyte species. Under optimized conditions, the preconcentration efficiency was 100% for both analytes. The trap-and-atomizer device can be replaced by the simple conventional externally heated quartz tube atomizer without any trap as demonstrated on the ultratrace antimony determination in groundwater reference material and mineral water samples. The interference of other hydride forming elements on Bi in-situ collection in the conventional externally heated quartz tube atomizer was investigated.     

A metallic furnace atomizer in hydride generation atomic absorption spectrometry: Determination of bismuth and selenium

A flow injection hydride generation system with a metal furnace atomizer (Inconel 600® alloy) was employed for Bi and Se determination. The presented methods have linear ranges up to 200 and 500 μg L^− 1 for Bi and Se, respectively, with good linearities (r² = 0.9997 and 0.9974, respectively). The limits of quantification obtained according to IUPAC recommendations were 2.3 μg L^− 1 for Bi and 6 μg L^− 1 for Se, and the relative standard deviations (N = 6) based on Bi and Se analytical responses from real samples were 2.7% and 10%, respectively. Accuracy evaluations were based on certified materials such as SRM 361, SRM 363, and SRM 364 (steel alloys) for Bi, Mess-3 (marine sediment), SRM 397 (human hair), and Bio-Rad2 — 69042 (urine) for Se. Good agreements between the results were obtained at the 95% confidence level, according to the t-test.     

Monitoring of selenium in water samples using dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction followed by iridium-modified tube graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry

A simple and powerful microextraction technique was used for determination of selenium in water samples using dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (DLLME) followed by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GF AAS). DLLME and simultaneous complex formation was performed with rapid injection of a mixture containing ethanol (disperser solvent), carbon tetrachloride (extraction solvent) and ammonium pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate (APDC, chelating agent) into water sample spiked with selenium. After centrifuging, fine droplets of carbon tetrachloride, which were dispersed among the solution and extracted Se-APDC complex, sediment at the bottom of the conical test tube. The concentration of enriched analyte in the sedimented phase was determined by iridium-modified pyrolitic tube graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry. The concentration of selenate was obtained as the difference between the concentration of selenite after and before pre-reduction of selenate to selenite. Some effective parameters on extraction and complex formation, such as extraction and disperser solvent type and their volume, extraction time, salt effect, pH and concentration of chelating agent were optimized. Under the optimum conditions, the enrichment factor of 70 was obtained from only 5.00 mL of water sample. The calibration graph was linear in the range of 0.1-3 μg L^− 1 with detection limit of 0.05 μg L^− 1. The relative standard deviation (RSDs) for ten replicate measurements of 2.00 μg L^− 1 of selenium was 4.5%. The relative recoveries of selenium in tap, river and sea water samples at spiking level of 2.00 μg L^− 1 were 106, 96 and 98%, respectively.     

Study of processes in the hydride generation atomic absorption spectrometry of antimony,arsenic and selenium

Studies of the decomposition rate of the reducing agent sodium tetrahydroborate in alkaline and acidic media and of the reaction rate of the formation of the hydrides under the usual analytical conditions are described. The stripping of the hydrides with different lengths of the stripping coil, with different amounts of hydrogen in the carrier gas and with sodium hydroxide added during and after the stripping process are discussed. Some evidence for the existence of an intermediate during the decomposition reaction of the sodium tetrahydroborate is given. The role of temperature, hydrogen and oxygen during the atomization of the hydrides in an electrically heated quartz cuvette is discussed. Under certain conditions, antimony atoms form dimers or elemental antimony precipitates in the heated cuvette.     

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.     

Secondary ion mass spectrometry for characterizing antimony, arsenic and selenium on graphite surfaces modified with noble metals and used for hydride generation atomic absorption spectrometry

The surface and sub-surface distribution of noble metals (after electrodeposition of 600 μg or thermal reduction of 10 μg as modifiers), as well as Sb, As and Se (200 ng) as analytes after their deposition on the graphite surface was investigated using secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) in the dynamic mode. This permitted simultaneous observation of the depth profile distribution of modifier and analyte with a depth resolution of down to approximately 25 nm, limited however, by the surface roughness of the samples. Hydride generation was intentionally used for this purpose because in this approach the investigated system: graphite–modifier with added analyte is free from matrix components. This was essential for the evaluation of this novel approach using SIMS for surface analysis. Investigations concerning the distribution of analytes were performed on the graphite surface modified with palladium, iridium or rhodium. It was found that after deposition at 400 °C, all analytes partially penetrated the graphite surface and their distribution overlaps the distribution pattern of the noble metals. The degree of penetration differs for each analyte and depends on the modifier used.     

Trapping of hydride forming elements within miniature electrothermal devices. Part 2. Investigation of collection of arsenic and selenium hydrides on a surface and in a cavity of a graphite rod

The interaction of arsenic and selenium hydrides with bare and modified graphite was investigated by atomic absorption spectrometry and by radiotracer technique using ⁷⁵Se radionuclide in a laboratory made brass cylindrical chamber equipped with a vertical quartz tube torch for supporting miniature hydrogen diffusion flame atomizer. Strong interaction was observed at elevated temperatures above 800 °C. In contrast to the very often-reported data for conventional graphite tube atomizers, this high temperature interaction was also accompanied by a pronounced trapping of analytes at elevated temperatures close to 1100–1200 °C when modified graphite was used. Comparing modifiers tested (Ir, Pt and Rh), iridium appeared the only useful permanent modifier. Among various graphite-rod traps designed, the most efficient trapping of analytes was achieved in a graphite cavity. The net selenium trapping efficiencies of approximately 53% and 70% were found by radiotracer technique for the iridium-treated graphite surface and the iridium-treated graphite cavity, respectively. In contrast to the molybdenum surface, bare graphite did not exhibit any significant trapping effect. Trapping isotherms obtained at different temperatures displayed non-linear course in the range up to the upper limit of the analytical relevance of 100 ng of an analyte, indicating a limited trapping capacity of the modified graphite surface and the same trapping mechanism at low and elevated temperatures applied (300–1300 °C). Radiography experiments with ⁷⁵Se radiotracer showed that a major part of selenium was collected within the small cavity of the graphite rod and that selenium was also deposited after the trapping and vaporization steps in the trap chamber and on the quartz tube wall of the burner. Complementary experiments performed with the conventional transversally heated graphite tube and with bare and thermally shielded injection capillaries for hydride introduction, showed that the pronounced trapping effect could not be observed at elevated temperatures in conventional systems equipped with the bare capillary. The losses of analytes in the non-shielded bare introduction capillary exposed to the heat decrease the transport efficiency of hydrides into the graphite tube, and consequently they cause reduction of the overall trapping efficiency at elevated temperatures.     

Determination of antimony, arsenic, bismuth, selenium, tellurium and tin by low pressure atomic absorption spectrometry with a quartz tube furnace atomizer and hydride generation with air addition

A new method has been developed for the determination of antimony, arsenic, bismuth, selenium, tellurium and tin by hydride generation-atomic absorption spectrometry in an electrically heated quartz tube furnace under sub-atmospheric pressure. The hydride generator, operating at a pressure lower than atmospheric, is used to generate and collect the hydrides of these elements. A certain volume (at atmospheric pressure) of air is then added to the generator after the formation of the volatile hydride. The gaseous mixture of the hydride and air is drawn into an evacuated, heated quartz tube by a vacuum pump. The proposed method gives improved sensitivities and detection limits.     

Simultaneous determination of trace arsenic, antimony, bismuth and selenium in biological samples by hydride generation-four-channel atomic fluorescence spectrometry

A new and sample technique for the simultaneous determination of trace arsenic, antimony, bismuth and selenium in biologic samples by hydride generation-four-channel nondispersive atomic fluorescence spectrometry was development. The conditions of instrumentation and hydride generation of arsenic, antimony, bismuth and selenium were optimized. For reducing hexavalent Se to the tetravalent state was to heat the sample with 6 mol l⁻¹ HCl, and then pre-reducing pentavalent As and Sb to the trivalent state was achieved by the addition of 0.05 mol l⁻¹ thiourea. The interferences of coexisting ions were evaluated. Under optimal conditions, the detection limits for As, Sb, Bi and Se were determined to be 0.03, 0.04, 0.04 and 0.03 ng ml⁻¹, respectively. The precision for seven replicate determinations at the 5 ng ml⁻¹ of As, Sb, Bi and Se were 0.9, 1.2, 1.3 and 1.5% (R.S.D.), respectively. The proposed method was successfully applied to the simultaneous determination of As, Sb, Bi and Se in a series of Chinese certified biological reference materials using simple aqueous standard calibration technique, the results obtained are in good agreement with the certified values.     

Determination of bismuth in metallurgical materials using a quartz tube atomizer with tungsten coil and flow injection-hydride-generation atomic absorption spectrometry

A method for the determination of bismuth in metallurgical materials using hydride generation coupled with a merging zones flow system and atomic absorption spectrometry using a quartz tube atomizer with tungsten coil is proposed. The parameters related to the bismuthine generation, the flow injection system and the use of a tungsten coil were studied and the optimized system shows a wide calibration range and good stability over time, without losses in sensitivity. The analytical curve is linear from 10 to 750 μg l⁻¹ of Bi with R0.999. A detection limit of 1.9 ng Bi and an analytical frequency of 60 determinations per hour were obtained. Five metallurgical reference materials were analyzed with the proposed method after their acid dissolution. The results obtained were in good agreement with certified or recommended values, and the relative standard deviations were lower than 5%.     

Inter-element interferences in the determination of arsenic and antimony by hydride generation atomic absorption spectrometry with a quartz tube atomizer

The interferences between arsenic and antimony on each other during the hydride generation atomic absorption spectrometry (HGAAS) determination of arsenic and antimony using a quartz tube atomizer (QTA) were examined. In order to eliminate or reduce such interferences by selective heat decomposition of arsine and stibine, a Pyrex adsorption U-tube trap containing glass wool was placed between the drying tube and the quartz tube atomizer. Although at 250 °C stibine decomposes and is held almost completely by the trap, arsine is also decomposed to an extent of 24% and, therefore, thermal decomposition is not useful to eliminate antimony interference on arsenic determination. The effect of coating the glass wool in the U-tube with antimony on the arsenic suppression of the antimony signal was studied. The results showed that the antimony coating in the U-tube could not hold arsenic effectively and its interference on the antimony signal could not be eliminated by this means. In the second part of the study, oxygen was supplied to the quartz tube atomizer during atomization in order to study the effect of supplying oxygen on the antimony signal and on the interference of arsenic in the antimony determination. Sensitivity was increased in the presence of oxygen and interferences of arsenic on antimony determination was decreased by about 10% when oxygen was supplied. It was also observed that the extent of interferences depended mainly on the interferent concentration rather than the analyte concentration.     

Behaviour of the dithiocarbamate complexes of arsenic, antimony, bismuth, mercury, lead, tin and selenium in methanol with a hydride generator

A study was carried out with a continuous hydride generator coupled to an atomic emission spectrometer with inductively-coupled plasma to determine whether hydrides of As, Bi, Pb, Sb, Sn and Se and mercury vapor could be generated in methanol solutions of their dithiocarbamate complexes. It was found that (with the exception of Pb) hydride generation with sufficient efficiency for simultaneous multi-element determination is achieved using 0.25% NaBH(4)-0.6 mol 1(-1) HCl as reaction medium. The detection limit was found to be 0.2 ng ml(-1) for As, 30 ng ml(-1) for Bi, 0.03 ng ml(-1) for Se, Sb and Sn.     

氢化物发生-原子荧光光谱法测定高纯锌中砷、锑、铋

提出了以硫脲-抗坏血酸-盐酸羟胺作为混合还原掩蔽剂,氢化物发生-原子荧光光谱法（HG-AFS）测定高纯锌中砷、锑、铋的方法。考察了测定的最佳条件、共存元素对测定的影响及方法的准确度和精密度。方法适用于高纯锌中0.00002％～0．01％砷、锑、铋的测定。     

Determination of arsenic, antimony, bismuth, selenium and tin in biological and environmental samples by continuous flow hydride generation ICP-AES without gas-liquid separator

Summary A simple continuous flow hydride generation system without conventional gas-liquid phase separator was developed for the determination of As, Se, Sb, Bi and Sn in biological and environmental samples by sequential ICP-AES with 1.5 kW power. The interchange of operating mode from normal solution nebulization to hydride generation or vice versa can easily be done without interrupting the plasma in this system.Two digestion methods were compared, i.e. the pressurized digestion with HNO₃ in a closed vessel and HNO₃/HClO₄/H₂SO₄ acid digestion in an open system. It was found that further treatment is necessary after normal pressurized digestion for As determination in marine samples, e.g. mussel. Interferences, especially by copper and nickel were examined and completely eliminated up to 10 g/ml by using a mixed reductant (3% NaBH₄ and 2% KI) with lower flow rate as well as the sample solution media of 30% HCl (v/v) and 20% HNO₃ (v/v). The effect of KI on the elemental oxidation states of As, Se and Sb is discussed. The accuracy of the method was validated by the analysis of a number of biological and environmental SRM's of NIST, BCR and NIES. Most results were in agreement with the certified values or reference values. The detection limits for these elements were in the range of 0.x ng/ml.On leave from Shanghai Institute of Metallurgy, Academia Sinica, Shanghai, China 200050     

First order speciation of As using flow injection hydride generation atomic absorption spectrometry with in-situ trapping of the arsine in a graphite furnace

A simple method is described to distinguish between As species that react with sodium tetrahydroborate (III) to form AsH₃ and the naturally occurring As species that are unreactive. Results for this rudimentary or “first order” speciation scheme are reported for biological tissue, aquatic plant material, urine and natural water samples. Biological tissue and aquatic plant samples were briefly solubilized in a mixture of 50% nitric acid, no sample preparation was required for the urine or natural water samples. Organoarsenic species which do not react with sodium borohydride under acidic conditions such as arsenobetaine, arsenocholine and tetramethylarsenic, are converted to As(V) by on-line photo-oxidation or microwave heating in a mixture of 0.5 M NaOH and 0.05 M K₂S₂O₈. The sample is subsequently acidified, reduced with sodium borohydride and the generated arsine is trapped in a heated graphite furnace prior to atomization. The superior detection limit (0.14 ng) of the trapping technique permits the dilution of most types of samples, minimizing or eliminating interference effects. Without photolysis or microwave heating a combined result for As(III), As(V), monomethylarsonic acid (MMA) and dimethylarsinic acid (DMA) is obtained. Results are reported for the first order speciation of As in a suite of certified reference materials (CRMs) including National Research Council (NRC) biological tissues and natural water samples, Community Bureau of Reference (BCR) aquatic plant materials and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) SRM 267ON urine sample. The determination of a non-hydride forming As fraction in untreated urine and natural water certified reference materials (CRMs) has revealed a species of As previously undetected in NRC seawater CRMs.     

The analysis of inorganic and organometallic antimony,arsenic and tin compounds using an on-column hydride generation method

A novel method of analysis of inorganic and organometallic compounds is reported. Essentially this utilizes the well-documented hydride generation technique, but in the present method the hydrides are generated from their involatile precursors (e.g. chlorides) on a GC column and separated from each other and from extraneous materials on the same GC column in a single process. Using the method, a solution of butyltin chlorides can be directly injected into a GC AA system to yield the volatile hydrides for separation, detection and quantification. To date, species analysed by this method include inorganic As(III), Me₂AsOOH, inorganic Sb(III) and Sb(V), MeSnCl₃, Me₂SnCl₂, Me₃SnCl, Et₂SnCl₂, Et₃SnCl, BuSnCl₃, Bu₂SnCl₂, Bu₃SnCl and Pr₃SnCl. With the use of the internal standard Pr₃SnCl and with the almost complete hydridization afforded by the technique, the procedure is shown to eliminate errors and to reduce the time involved in the analysis. The use of on-column derivatization also allows for the possibility that, in some cases, organotin hydrides reported to be found in the natural environment may, in fact, be organotin chlorides being reported as hydrides owing to inadvertent hydride production on the column. Some reports of successful gas chromatography for organotin halides could also conceivably be due to on-column hydride generation.     

微型氢化物发生-原子吸收光谱法测定纺织品中的痕量砷和锑

采用三毛细管微型在线氢化发生技术和装置, 建立了氢化物发生-电热石英管原子吸收法测定纺织品中痕量As、 Sb的分析方法. 研究了共存离子对As、 Sb检测的干扰及消除方法. 结果表明: 该方法除Co、 Sn对As和Ni对Sb有干扰外, 其它干扰元素允许量都较大. 采用酒石酸和KI混合掩蔽剂可抑制Co、 Sn对As和Ni对 Sb的干扰. As和Sb的检出限分别为0.7和0.4 ng/L, 已用于测定纺织品中痕量As和Sb的分析.     

Flow injection determination of selenium by successive retention of Se(IV) and tetrahydroborate(III) on an anion-exchange resin and hydride generation electrothermal atomization atomic absorption spectrometry with in-atomizer trapping: Part 1. Method development and investigation of interferences

A sample solution was passed at 20 ml min⁻¹ through a column (150×4 mm²) of Amberlite IRA-410Stron anion-exchange resin for 60 s. After washing, a solution of 0.1% sodium borohydride was passed through the column for 60 s at 5.1 ml min⁻¹. Following a second wash, a solution of 8 mol l⁻¹ hydrochloric acid was passed at 5.1 ml min⁻¹ for 45 s. The hydrogen selenide was stripped from the eluent solution by the addition of an argon flow at 150 ml min⁻¹ and the bulk phases were separated by a glass gas–liquid separator containing glass beads. The gas stream was dried by passing through a Nafion® dryer and fed, via a quartz capillary tube, into the dosing hole of a transversely heated graphite cuvette containing an integrated L’vov platform which had been pretreated with 120 μg of iridium as trapping agent. The furnace was held at a temperature of 250°C during this trapping stage and then stepped to 2000°C for atomization. The calibration was performed with aqueous standards solution of selenium (selenite, SeO₃²⁻) with quantification by peak area. A number of experimental parameters, including reagent flow rates and composition., nature of the gas–liquid separator, nature of the anion-exchange resin, column dimensions, argon flow rate and sample pH, were optimized. The effects of a number of possible interferents, both anionic and cationic were studies for a solution of 500 ng 1⁻¹ of selenium. The most severe depressions were caused by iron (III) and mercury (II) for which concentrations of 20 and 10 mg  1⁻¹ caused a 5% depression on the selenium signal. For the other cations (cadmium, cobalt, copper, lead,. magnesium, and nickel) concentrations of 50–70 mg 1⁻¹ could be tolerated. Arsenate interfered at a concentration of 3 mg⁻¹, whereas concentrations of chloride, bromide, iodide, perchlorate, and sulfate of 500–900 mg l⁻¹ could be tolerated. A linear response was obtained between the detection limit of 4 ng 1⁻¹, with a characteristic mass of 130 pg. The RSDs for solutions containing 100 and 200 ng 1⁻¹ selenium were 2.3% and 1.5%, respectively.