A multicommuted flow system with solenoid micro-pumps for paraquat determination in natural waters

A flow system designed with solenoid micro-pumps is proposed for the determination of paraquat in natural waters. The procedure involves the reaction of paraquat with dehydroascorbic acid followed by spectrophotometric measurements. The proposed procedure minimizes the main drawbacks related to the standard chromatographic procedure and to flow analysis and manual methods with spectrophotometric detection based on the reaction with sodium dithionite, i.e. high solvent consumption and waste generation and low sampling rate for chromatography and high instability of the reagent in the spectrophotometric procedures. A home-made 10-cm optical-path flow cell was employed for improving sensitivity and detection limit. Linear response was observed for paraquat concentrations in the range 0.10–5.0 mg L⁻¹. The detection limit (99.7% confidence level), sampling rate and coefficient of variation (n = 10) were estimated as 22 μg L⁻¹, 63 measurements per hour and 1.0%, respectively. Results of determination of paraquat in natural water samples were in agreement with those achieved by the chromatographic reference procedure at the 95% confidence level.     

A multicommuted flow system for sequential spectrophotometric determination of hydrosoluble vitamins in pharmaceutical preparations

A multicommuted flow system is proposed for spectrophotometric determination of hydrosoluble vitamins (ascorbic acid, thiamine, riboflavine and pyridoxine) in pharmaceutical preparations. The flow manifold was designed with computer-controlled three-way solenoid valves for independent handling of sample and reagent solutions and a multi-channel spectrophotometer was employed for signal measurements. Periodic re-calibration as well as the standard addition method was implemented by using a single reference solution. Linear responses (r=0.999) were obtained for 0.500-10.0 mg l⁻¹ ascorbic acid, 2.00-50.0 mg l⁻¹ thiamine, 5.00-50.0 mg l⁻¹ riboflavine and 0.500-8.00 mg l⁻¹ pyridoxine. Detection limits were estimated as 0.08 mg l⁻¹ (0.5 μmol l⁻¹) ascorbic acid, 0.8 mg l⁻¹ (2 μmol l⁻¹) thiamine, 0.2 mg l⁻¹ (0.5 μmol l⁻¹) riboflavine and 0.1 mg l⁻¹ (0.9 μmol l⁻¹) pyridoxine at 99.7% confidence level. A mean sampling rate of 60 determinations per hour was achieved and coefficients of variation of 1% (n=20) were estimated for all species. The mean reagent consumption was 25-fold lower in relation to flow-based procedures with continuous reagent addition. Average recoveries between 95.6 and 100% were obtained for commercial pharmaceutical preparations. Results agreed with those obtained by reference methods at 95% confidence level. The flow system is suitable for application in quality control processes and in dissolution studies of vitamin tablets.     

Peat as a natural solid-phase for copper preconcentration and determination in a multicommuted flow system coupled to flame atomic absorption spectrometry

The physical and chemical characteristics of peat were assessed through measurement of pH, percentage of organic matter, cationic exchange capacity (CEC), elemental analysis, infrared spectroscopy and quantitative analysis of metals by ICP OES. Despite the material showed to be very acid in view of the percentage of organic matter, its CEC was significant, showing potential for retention of metal ions. This characteristic was exploited by coupling a peat mini-column to a flow system based on the multicommutation approach for the in-line copper concentration prior to flame atomic absorption spectrometric determination. Cu(II) ions were adsorbed at pH 4.5 and eluted with 0.50 mol L⁻¹ HNO₃. The influence of chemical and hydrodynamic parameters, such as sample pH, buffer concentration, eluent type and concentration, sample flow-rate and preconcentration time were investigated. Under the optimized conditions, a linear response was observed between 16 and 100 μg L⁻¹, with a detection limit estimated as 3 μg L⁻¹ at the 99.7% confidence level and an enrichment factor of 16. The relative standard deviation was estimated as 3.3% (n = 20). The mini-column was used for at least 100 sampling cycles without significant variation in the analytical response. Recoveries from copper spiked to lake water or groundwater as well as concentrates used in hemodialysis were in the 97.3-111% range. The results obtained for copper determination in these samples agreed with those achieved by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GFAAS) at the 95% confidence level.     

Chemiluminometric photo-induced determination of Strychnine in a Multicommutation flow assembly

This paper deals on the determination of Strychnine, a potent and dangerous pesticide and the analytical procedure is based on the photo-induced chemiluminescence of the pesticide by means of the Multicommutation continuous-flow methodology. Small segments of the pesticide solution were sequentially alternated with segments of the solution for adjusting the suitable medium for the photodegradation. The required time of UV irradiation was obtained by stopped-flow during 150 s; then, the resulting solution formed alternated segments with the oxidizing solution containing 5 × 10⁻³ mol l⁻¹ Ce(IV) in 0.6 mol l⁻¹ nitric acid. The calibration range, from 2 μg l⁻¹ to 50 mg l⁻¹, resulted in a linear behaviour over the range 25 μg l⁻¹ to 20 mg l⁻¹ and fitting the equation: I = 4706x + 624 with a correlation coefficient of 0.9955. The limit of detection was 2 μg l⁻¹ and the sample throughput 15 h⁻¹. After testing the influence of a large series of potential interferents, the method was applied to different kinds of samples.     

A multicommuted flow system for the determination of copper, chromium, iron and lead in lubricating oils with detection by flame AAS

In this work, a flow analysis procedure for the determination of copper, chromium, iron and lead in lubricating oils using flame AAS as detection technique is described. The flow manifold was designed to implement the multicommutation approach and it comprised three 3-way solenoid valves controlled by a personal computer. The flow system presented allowed to process the oil samples to determine wear metals without any prior preparation. Aiming to assess accuracy the results were compared with those obtained by manual procedure using flame AAS. Applying the joint-confidence ellipse test, no significant difference at the 95% confidence level was observed. Other profitable features such as a sample throughput of 50 determinations per hour; relative standard deviations (n = 5) below 2% for Cu, and below 8% for Cr, Fe and Pb; and linear responses in the range 0–40 ppm (w/w) (Cu, Fe) and 0–15 ppm (w/w) (Cr, Pb) were also achieved.     

Development of an automated chemiluminescence flow-through sensor for the determination of 5-aminosalicylic acid in pharmaceuticals: a comparative study between sequential and multicommutated flow techniques

This work is aimed at demonstrating the potential of the implementation of automatic flow systems in optosensors using chemiluminescence detection. With this purpose, two automatic methodologies, multicommutation and sequential injection analysis (SIA), have been applied to the analysis of 5-aminosalicylic acid (ASA). The analyte is determined for the first time making use of its chemiluminescence reaction with permanganate anion, previously immobilized on an appropriate solid support in the detection area. First, the study of the most appropriate commercial flow-through cell and the optimum conditions for the reaction were performed. Second, the main differences in terms of flow variables and analytical parameters for multicommutation and SIA approaches were stated. Both methodologies were applied to the determination of the analyte in pharmaceuticals obtaining satisfactory results. Finally, the advantages and disadvantages of both proposed methods and the recoveries obtained from pharmaceuticals were statistically compared.     

A novel multicommuted fluorimetric optosensor for determination of resveratrol in beer

Resveratrol (3,5,4′-trihydroxystilbene) is a phytoalexin that plays a central role in the human diet because of its antioxidant, anticarcinogenic and antimutagenic properties. This paper shows the development of a multicommuted optosensing device for the determination of resveratrol in beer. The method is based on the measurement of the fluorescence (277/382 nm, λ_ex/λ_em) of the photoproduct on-line generated by UV-irradiation of resveratrol. The fluorescent photoproduct is monitored once it is retained on a solid support (Sephadex QAE A-25) in the detection area, which improves both sensitivity and selectivity. The sample was delipidated with toluene and cyclohexane and resveratrol was extracted by solid-phase extraction (SPE) on C₁₈ cartridges, using methanol as eluent. This pre-treatment allowed recovering about an 82% resveratrol and removing its 3-O-β-d-glycoside (piceid) and other interfering substances present in beer. The method provides a detection limit (DL) of 1.0 ng mL⁻¹ and a linear dynamic range (LDR) of 3.3-100 ng mL⁻¹. It was satisfactorily applied to the determination of resveratrol in top- and bottom-fermented beers by standard addition calibration. Resveratrol concentrations in the analysed samples varied from 4.1 to 14.1 ng mL⁻¹. This is the first proposed spectroscopic method for determination of resveratrol in beer.     

Photochemical-chemiluminometric determination of aldicarb in a fully automated multicommutation based flow-assembly

A sensitive and fully automated method for determination of aldicarb in technical formulations (Temik) and mineral waters is proposed. The automation of the flow-assembly is based on the multicommutation approach, which uses a set of solenoid valves acting as independent switchers. The operating cycle for obtaining a typical analytical transient signal can be easily programmed by means of a home-made software running in the Windows environment. The manifold is provided with a photoreactor consisting of a 150 cm long × 0.8 mm i.d. piece of PTFE tubing coiled around a 20 W low-pressure mercury lamp. The determination of aldicarb is performed on the basis of the iron(III) catalytic mineralization of the pesticide by UV irradiation (150 s), and the chemiluminescent (CL) behavior of the photodegradated pesticide in presence of potassium permanganate and quinine sulphate as sensitizer. UV irradiation of aldicarb turns the very week chemiluminescent pesticide into a strongly chemiluminescent photoproduct. The method is linear over the range 2.2-100.0 μg l⁻¹ of aldicarb; the limit of detection is 0.069 μg l⁻¹; the reproducibility (as the R.S.D. of 20 peaks of a 24 μg l⁻¹ solution) is 3.7% and the sample throughput is 17 h⁻¹.     

Sensitive determination of captopril by time-resolved chemiluminescence using the stopped-flow analysis based on potassium permanganate oxidation

The chemiluminescent behaviour of captopril when reacted with a common oxidant, potassium permanganate in different acidic media is described, using the stopped-flow technique in a continuous-flow system. A 22 bit analogue-to-digital converter that acquires analogue signals at −10 and +10 V and allows the power supply to the peristaltic pump to be interrupted is used in the time-resolved chemiluminescence manifold to ensure rapid, efficient mixing of chemiluminescent reagent and sample immediately before reaching the detector; this results in high precision and detectability, particularly with fast, short-lived emissions.The optimum chemical conditions for the chemiluminescence emission were investigated. It was found that a weak CL emission was emitted during the oxidation of this drug with potassium permanganate in acidic solution. The effect of common emission enhancers such as formic acid, formaldehyde, glutaraldehyde, acetaldehyde, quinine, fluorescein, rhodamine B and rhodamine 6G was studied. The parameters selected were 4.0 mol L⁻¹ sulphuric acid, 0.25 mmol L⁻¹ permanganate and 0.75 mol L⁻¹ formaldehyde.Four quantitative parameters adjustable via software settings, two of them typically kinetic parameters, such as rate of the light-development reaction and rate of the light-decay reaction, and the other conventional parameters, such as maximum emission intensity and total emission area, were used to obtain linear calibration graphs with each measurement parameter. The detection limits ranged from 0.011 to 0.026 μg mL⁻¹ and R.S.D. values (n = 10) of 1.21-3.93 at a 0.50 μg mL⁻¹ and 2.01-3.41 at a 1.60 μg mL⁻¹ concentration levels were obtained. The method was satisfactorily applied to the determination of captopril in pharmaceutical preparations.     

Analytical strategy photodegradation/chemiluminescence/continuous-flow multicommutation methodology for the determination of the herbicide Propanil

The present paper is dealing with an analytical strategy based on coupling photodegradation, chemiluminescence and multicommutation continuous-flow methodology for the determination of the pesticide Propanil, a common herbicide. The pesticide solution is inserted as small segments sequentially alternated with segments of the solution for adjusting the suitable medium for the photodegradation. Both flow-rates (sample and medium) are adjusted to required time for photodegradation, 2.0 min; and then, the resulting solution is also sequentially inserted as segments alternated with segments of the oxidizing solutions system, 1.00 × 10⁻⁴ mol l⁻¹ potassium permanganate in 2.00 mol l⁻¹ sulphuric acid medium. The calibration range, from 10 μg l⁻¹ to 25 mg l⁻¹, resulted in a linear behaviour over the range 10 μg l⁻¹-5 mg l⁻¹ and fitting the linear equation: I = 780.30C + 95.28; correlation coefficient 0.9999. The limit of detection was 8 μg l⁻¹ and the sample throughput 20 h⁻¹. After testing the influence of a large series of potential interferents the method is applied to water samples obtained from different places and to one formulation. The method is valid for the determination of other pesticides from the same chemical family, namely: alachlor, flumetsulam, furalaxyl and ofurace. Calibration graphs, limits of detection, repeatability and determination in water samples are obtained for each reported pesticide.     

Voltammetric determination of food colorants using a polyallylamine modified tubular electrode in a multicommutated flow system

This work describes the construction of a polyallylamine modified tubular glassy carbon electrode and its application in the electroreduction of food azo colorants (tartrazine, sunset yellow and allura red) by square wave voltammetry. The electrode modification prevented the surface fouling and, simultaneously, enhanced the analytical signal intensity. The developed unit was coupled to a multicommutated flow system which, given the complexity of samples, was designed to allow the implementation of the standard additions method in an automatic way, using only one standard solution.The described method presented a linear range up to about 2.0 × 10⁻⁴ mol l⁻¹ for the referred colorants, with a detection limit of 1.8 × 10⁻⁶ mol l⁻¹ for tartrazine, 3.5 × 10⁻⁶ mol l⁻¹ for sunset yellow and 1.4 × 10⁻⁶ mol l⁻¹ for allura red. The method was applied in the analysis of these colorants in several food samples, and no statistically significant difference between the results obtained by the proposed and the comparative method (HPLC) was found, at a 95% confidence level. Repeatability in the analysis of samples (expressed in R.S.D.) was about 3% (n = 10).     

Chemiluminometric determination of carvedilol in a multi-pumping flow system

In this work a simple, fast, sensitive and selective flow-based procedure for the chemiluminometric determination of carvedilol, a recent non-cardioselective β-blocker with noteworthy antioxidant activity, is proposed. The developed methodology takes advantage of the antioxidant capacity of carvedilol to inhibit the chemiluminescence response resulting from the oxidation of luminol by hypochlorite, by acting as a hypochlorite scavenger. The analytical process was implemented in a multi-pumping flow system that employs multiple solenoid actuated micro-pumps as the only active components. These acted as solution insertion, propelling and commuting units assuring an easily controlled, low cost, compact and reliable analytical system.A linear working range for carvedilol concentrations ranging from 1.2 × 10⁻⁷ to 3.0 × 10⁻⁶ mol l⁻¹ (r > 0.999, n = 6), was obtained, with a detection limit of 8.7 × 10⁻⁹ mol l⁻¹. The system handles about 65 samples per hour yielding precise results (R.S.D. < 1.3%, n = 10). Recoveries within 95 and 104% were obtained.     

Development of a chemiluminescence-based quantitative lateral flow immunoassay for on-field detection of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene

Simple, rapid and highly sensitive assays, possibly allowing on-site analysis, are required in the security and forensic fields or to obtain early signs of environmental pollution. Several bioanalytical methods and biosensors based on portable devices have been developed for this purpose. Among them, Lateral Flow ImmunoAssays (LFIAs) offer the advantages of rapidity and ease of use and, thanks to the high specificity of antigen–antibody binding, allow greatly simplifying and reducing sample pre-analytical treatments. However, LFIAs usually employ colloidal gold or latex beads as labels and they rely on the formation of colored bands visible by the naked eye. With this assay format, only qualitative or semi-quantitative information can be obtained and low sensitivity is achieved. Recently, the use of enzyme-catalyzed chemiluminescence detection in LFIA has been proposed to overcome these problems. In this work, we describe the development of a quantitative CL-LFIA assay for the detection of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) in real samples. Thanks to the use of a portable imaging device for CL signal measurement based on a thermoelectrically cooled CCD camera, the analysis could be performed directly on-field. A limit of detection of 0.2 μg mL⁻¹ TNT was obtained, which is five times lower than that obtained with a previously described colloidal gold-based LFIA developed employing the same immunoreagents. The dynamic range of the assay extended up to 5 μg mL⁻¹ TNT and recoveries ranging from 97% to 111% were obtained in the analysis of real samples (post blast residues obtained from controlled explosion).     

Chemiluminescence optosensing implemented with multicommutation: determination of salicylic acid

In this paper we have coupled, for the first time, chemiluminescent detection with multicommuted optosensing principles. This approach has been implemented with the use of a commercial flow cell of 1 mm optical path length filled with an appropriate anionic exchanger gel as chemiluminescence sensing phase. The cell was placed in front of the window of the photosensor module of a home-made luminometer developed in our laboratory and a flat mirror was stuck on the back of the cell. The suitability of using chemiluminescence as detection technique in multicommuted flow-through optosensors has been demonstrated: the determination of salicylic acid by simple oxidation with permanganate on the sensing solid phase was chosen as model reaction. The proposed system allows the determination of salicylic acid in pharmaceuticals, with a sample frequency as high as even 60 samples h⁻¹ and showing a detection limit of 0.30 μg mL⁻¹, the linear response range is 1–30 μg mL⁻¹ and the R.S.D. is 3.1%. Satisfactory results have been obtained when applying the sensor to pharmaceuticals. The accuracy of the proposed methodology has been tested by using a reference method.     

Chemiluminescence system for automatic determination of chemical oxygen demand using flow injection analysis

A novel chemiluminescence (CL) system for automatic determination of chemical oxygen demand (COD) combined with flow injection analysis is proposed in this paper. In this system, potassium permanganate is reduced to Mn²⁺ which is first adsorbed on a strongly acid cation-exchange resin mini-column to be concentrated during chemical oxidation of the organic compounds at room temperature, while the excessive MnO₄⁻ passes through the mini-column to be waste, then the concentrated Mn²⁺ is eluted reversely and measured by the luminol-H₂O₂ CL system. The calibration graph is linear in the range of 4-4000 mg l⁻¹ and the detection limit is 2 mg l⁻¹. A complete analysis could be performed in 1.5 min including washing and sampling, giving a throughout of about 40 h⁻¹. The relative standard deviation was 4.4% for 10 mg l⁻¹ COD (n=11), 4.8% for 100 mg l⁻¹ COD (n=11). This CL flow system for determination of COD is very simple, rapid and suitable for automatic and continuous analysis. The presented system has been applied successfully to the determination of COD of water samples.     

Automatic chemiluminescence-based determination of carbaryl in various types of matrices

Carbaryl, a modern pesticide widely used for both agricultural and non-agricultural purposes, was determined from the chemiluminescence produced in its reaction with Ce(IV) in a nitric acid medium containing rhodamine 6G as sensitizer, using flow-injection techniques. A straightforward automatic method based on measurements peak height and peak area, which are directly proportional to the carbaryl concentration, was thus developed. Calibration graphs are linear over the concentration range from 50 to 2000 ng mL⁻¹. The limit of detection, as determined according to Clayton, is 45.6 and 28.7 ng mL⁻¹ for peak height and peak area measurements, respectively. The relative standard deviation for 10 samples was less than 1.4% with both types of measurements. Two commercial formulations containing carbaryl were analysed using both types of measurements, which provided acceptable recovery values. Solid-phase extraction was used to concentrate and separate the analyte from the matrix. The method was successfully applied to the analysis of spiked water samples as well as in soil and grain samples. The proposed method exhibited a high selectivity no other pesticide containing the naphthalene group such as antu, napropamide or naftalam, etc., was found to interfere with the determination of carbaryl.     

New flow-multicommutation method for the photo-chemiluminometric determination of the carbamate pesticide asulam

This paper deals with a straightforward automated method for the determination of asulam in water based on the use of a flow manifold including three computer-controlled solenoid valves. The method involves irradiating on an aqueous solution of asulam in glycine buffer at pH 8.3 with UV light during 90 s, then follows the oxidation with potassium permanganate in a sulphuric medium and chemiluminescence-based detection of the resulting photoproducts. The limit of detection thus achieved is 40 μg l⁻¹. The detector response is linear up to a 5 mg l⁻¹ asulam concentration and the throughput is 30 samples h⁻¹. In parallel tests, oxidation with alkaline ferricyanide was also assessed and the results compared (sensitivity, selectivity and reproducibility) with those from oxidation with potassium permanganate in acidic medium. The use of a flow based on solenoid valves results in substantial reagent savings and constitutes a further extension of clean chemistry procedures. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first chemiluminescence-based determination of asulam and also the first based on multicommutation analysis.     

A multicommuted stop-flow system employing LEDs-based photometer for the sequential determination of anionic and cationic surfactants in water

It has been developed an automatic stop-flow procedure for sequential photometric determination of anionic and cationic surfactants in a same sample of water. The flow system was based on multicommutation process that was designed employing two solenoid micro-pumps and six solenoid pinch valves, which under microcomputer control carry out fluid propelling and reagent solutions handling. A homemade photometer using a photodiode as detector and two light emitting diodes (LEDs) with emission at 470 nm (blue) and 650 nm (red) as radiation sources, which was tailored to allow the determination of anionic and cationic surfactants in waters. The procedure for anionic surfactant determination was based on the substitution reaction of methyl orange (MO) by the anionic surfactant sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate (DBS) to form an ion-pair with the cetyl pyridine chloride (CPC). Features such as a linear response ranging from 0.35 to 10.5 mg L⁻¹ DBS (R = 0.999), a detection limit of 0.06 mg L⁻¹ DBS and a relative standard deviation of 0.6% (n = 11) were achieved. For cationic surfactant determination, the procedure was based on the ternary complex formation between cationic surfactant, Fe(III) and chromazurol S (CAS) using CPC as reference standard solution. A linear response range between 0.34 and 10.2 mg L⁻¹ CPC (R = 0.999), a detection limit of 0.05 mg L⁻¹ CPC and a relative standard deviation of 0.5% (n = 11) were obtained. In both cases, the sampling throughput was 60 determinations per hour. Reagents consumption of 7.8 μg MO, 8.2 μg CPC, 37.2 μg CAS and 21.6 μg Fe(III) per determination were achieved. Analyzing river water samples and applying t-test between the results found and those obtained using reference procedures for both surfactant types provide no significant differences at 95% confidence level.     

A multicommuted flow-system for spectrophotometric determination of tannin exploiting the Cu(I)/BCA complex formation

A flow system exploiting the multicommutation approach is proposed for spectrophotometric determination of tannin in beverages. The procedure is based on the reduction of Cu(II) in the presence of 4,4′-dicarboxy-2,2′-biquinoline, yielding a complex with maximum absorption at 558 nm. Calibration graph was linear (r = 0.999) for tannic acid concentrations up to 5.00 μmol L^− 1. The detection limit and coefficient of variation were estimated as 10 nmol L^− 1 (99.7% confidence level) and 1% (1.78 μmol L^− 1 tannic acid, n = 10), respectively. The sampling rate was 50 determinations per hour. The proposed procedure is more sensitive and selective than the official Folin-Denis method, also minimizing drastically waste generation. Recoveries within 91.8 and 115% were estimated for total tannin determination in tea and wine samples.     

Liquid-liquid microextraction without phase separation in a multicommuted flow system for diltiazem determination in pharmaceuticals

Liquid-liquid microextraction without phase segmentation was implemented in a multicommuted flow system for determination of the anti-hypertensive diltiazem. The procedure was based on ion pair formation between the drug and the dye bromothymol blue at pH 3.5. The detection was performed without phase separation in a glass tube coupled to a fiber-optics spectrophotometer. The total volume of chloroform was reduced to 50 μL in comparison with 10 mL consumed in batch. A linear response was observed between 9 and 120 μmol L(-1), with a detection limit of 0.9 μmol L(-1) (99.7% confidence level). The coefficient of variation (n=10), sampling rate and extraction efficiency were estimated as 0.6%, 78 determinations per hour and 61%, respectively. About 30 μg of bromothymol blue was consumed and the waste volume was 380 μL per determination. The results for pharmaceutical samples agreed with those obtained by the reference procedure at the 95% confidence level.