Determination of vanadium and titanium in steel by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry with modified use of a tungsten boat furnace atomizer for atomic absorption spectrometry

For electrothermal sample introduction, a commercially available tungsten boat atomizer for atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS) was transferred to a vaporizer for inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES). The modification retained as much of the original design of the atomizer as possible, so that the apparatus could be switched easily between conventional tungsten boat furnace (TBF)-AAS and TBF-ICP-AES. By using this system, a procedure for the determination of vanadium and titanium in steel was investigated. The detection limits (S/N=3) of vanadium and titanium were 3.9 and 1.5 ng ml^?1, respectively. The relative standard deviations for five replicate determinations were ca. 3% for both elements. The calibration graphs were linear up to 100 μg ml^?1 vanadium(V) and 10 μg ml^?1 titanium(IV). Results of analyses of some low-alloy steel samples are given.     

Determination of cadmium by an improved double chamber electrothermal vaporization inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry

An improved double chamber electrothermal vaporization (ETV) system was designed. A new inner chamber and its bottom plate made of quartz glass were attached with carrier support gas inlet port for the determination of cadmium by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES). The use of the inner chamber in combination with the plate played important roles to transport the metal vapor efficiently into argon ICP. Ten-μl sample aliquots were dried at 100 °C and subsequently heated at 1000 °C on the tungsten boat furnace. The evolved vapor was swept into the ICP source through PTFE tubing and the inner chamber by a 0.8 l/min H₂ (7%)-Ar carrier gas. The performance parameters of ETV-ICP-AES such as temperature program and gas flow rate were evaluated using cadmium standard solution. Under the optimized experimental conditions, the best attainable detection limit at Cd II 214.438 nm line was 0.2 ng/ml with linear dynamic ranges of 50 to 10,000 ng/ml for cadmium. The instrumental precision expressed as the relative standard deviation (RSD) from ten replicate measurements of 10,000 ng/ml for cadmium by ETV-ICP-AES was 0.85%. The present method has been successfully applied to the determination of cadmium in zinc-base materials.     

Synthesis and efficiency of an epoxy-tannin chelating resin for preconcentrating and separating various rare elements

A new epoxy-tannin chelating resin was synthesized from epoxy resin and used for the preconcentration and separation of rare elements. The acidity, rate, reuse, capacity and interference on the adsorption of ions on the resin as well as the conditions of desorption of these ions from the resin were investigated by means of inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES). The composition of the resin and mechanism of enrichment for some ions were discussed. The results show that the relative standard deviations for the determination of 50 ng ml⁻¹ Ga(III), In(III), Bi(III) and Sn(IV), 10 ng ml⁻¹ La(III), Y(III), Cr(III), Ti(IV) and V(V) and 1.0 ng ml⁻¹ Be(II) were in the range of 0.5–4.5%. The contents of these elements in a sample solution from a smelter determined by the new method were in agreement with those values obtained by Zeeman atomic absorption spectrometry with an average error <3.4%.     

微波消解-电感耦合等离子体原子发射光谱(ICP-AES)法测定含铜污泥中多种重金属

为了填补现有方法的技术空白,本方法采用微波消解和电感耦合等离子体原子发射光谱法（ ICP-AES）相结合,实现对含铜污泥中铅、锌、铬、镉、砷、镁、铝、锑量的同时测定。首先采用盐酸-硝酸-氢氟酸微波消解进行样品的前处理,消解后加入高氯酸置于电热板进行除碳并赶酸,溶样效果理想,且有效避免了高温溶样对易挥发元素砷、锑的损失,整个过程安全、高效、无损。溶样后以电感耦合等离子体发射光谱法（ ICP-AES）进行测定。对含铜污泥的分解方法进行了合理选择,并对测定时的元素分析谱线及各测定元素间干扰情况等进行了讨论。该方法的加标回收率在95.31%~107.28%%,相对标准偏差（RSD）在0.31%~2.05%之间（n=7),结果表明,该方法准确度高,操作简单快捷,可同时测定多种元素,能满足批量的测定含铜污泥中铅、锌、镍、铁、镉、铬、砷、锑含量的测定要求。     

Laser ablation and furnace techniques for sampling and detection in atomic emission spectrometry

Summary The potential of furnace techniques and of laser evaporation for the analysis of dry solution residues and of solids by different atomic emission procedures is described. The new one-step FANES technique (furnace atomic nonthermal emission spectrometry) is compared with the two-step procedure ETV-ICP-AES (electrothermal vaporisation—inductively coupled plasma—atomic emission spectrometry). In case of dry solution residues the sensitivity of the FANES is higher (1–2 orders of magnitude) as a result of better discharge conditions (low background) and direct sample introduction, particularly for volatile and moderately volatile substances. For refractory elements the higher gas temperature of the ICP plasma causes better atomisation, which can lead to higher sensitivity of the ETV-ICP-AES. A new Laser-FANES hybride technique is introduced for microanalysis in solid samples and compared with Laser-ICP-AES. The Laser-FANES is shown to combine the advantages of Laser-ETA-AAS (high sensitivity) and of Laser-ICP-AES (multielemental determinations), particularly for volatile and moderately volatile elements.     

微波辅助消解-原子荧光法测定玻璃中的镉砷铅

光学玻璃中的各种元素对玻璃的光学性能有不同的影响。如加入镉可以提高玻璃折射率;砷的引入能增加玻璃的透光度,含铅玻璃具有低成本、高折射性等优点。但是镉、砷、铅均为有毒元素,玻璃加工和处理过程以及毒废弃物的处理都可能引起水、土壤、大气的污染并给人体带来一定的危害     

Electrothermal vaporization in inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry for direct multielement analysis of food samples with slurry sampling

Slurry sampling followed by electrothermal vaporization (ETV) was used as sample introduction technique in inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) for the direct determination of trace elements in food samples. A polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) emulsion was used as a fluorinating reagent to promote vaporization and the transportation of analytes. The main factors affecting the analytical signals were investigated in detail. Under optimum operating conditions, the detection limits (DL) for this method varied from 1.8 (Cu) to 215 ng/mL (Zn), while the relative standard deviations (RSD) were in the range 2.6% (Cu)-7.2% (Zn). The proposed method was successfully applied to the direct determination of trace amounts of V, Cu, Cr, Fe, Zn, and La in rice without any chemical pretreatment. The precision was evaluated by analyzing a standard reference material (tea leaves, GBW 07605) and comparing the results from this method with results obtained by pneumatic nebulization (PN) ICP-AES after the wet-chemical decomposition of the same sample.From Zhurnal Analiticheskoi Khimii, Vol. 60, No. 3, 2005, pp. 286–290.Original English Text Copyright © 2005 by Chen.This article was submitted by the author in English.     

Development of gas-phase sample-introduction techniques for analytical atomic spectrometry.

For the last 30 years, several types of gas-phase sample-introduction methods in analytical atomic spectrometry, i.e., atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS), atomic emission spectrometry (AES) and atomic fluorescence spectrometry (AFS), have been investigated and developed in the author's laboratory. Their fundamental results are summarized in this review article. The gas-phase sample-introduction techniques developed in the author's laboratory can be roughly divided into four groups: i) hydride generation, ii) cold-vapor generation of mercury, iii) analyte volatilization reactions and iv) miscellaneous. The analytical figures of merit of the gas-phase sample-introduction methods have been described in detail. Hydride generation has been coupled with the AAS of As, Bi, Ge, Pb, Sb, Se, Sn and Te, with the inductively coupled plasma (ICP) AES of As, Bi, Sn, Se and Sb, with the high-power nitrogen microwave-induced plasma (N2-MIP) AES of As, Bi, Pb, Sb, Se, Sn and Te by their single- and multi-element determinations, with the AFS of As, Bi, Pb, Sb, Se, Sn and Te, and with the ICP mass spectrometry (MS) of As and Se. The cold-vapor generation method for Hg has been combined with atmospheric-pressure helium microwave-induced plasma (He- or Ar-MIP)-AES and AFS. Furthermore, analyte volatilization reactions have been employed in the ICP-AES of iodine, in the He-MIP-AES of iodine bromine, chlorine, sulfur and carbon, and in the ICP-MS of sulfur. As a result, when compared with conventional solution nebulization, a great improvement in the sensitivity has been attained in each instance. In addition, the developed techniques coupled with analytical atomic spectrometry have been successfully applied to the determination of trace elements in a variety of practical samples.     

AES法和AAS法测定食品、药物中微量元素的进展

综述了80年代以来原子发射光谱（AES）法和原子吸收光谱（AAS）法在食品和药物中微量元素分析的应用进展，内容包括，样品的预处理和进样技术，ICP-AES法和其他AES法。FAAS法，GFAAS法，HG-AAS法和冷蒸气AAS法等方面的应用及发展状况。     

Determination of metals in biofluids and tissues: sample preparation methods for atomic spectroscopic techniques

Several sample preparation methods unique to each instrumental technique exist for the elemental analysis of biological specimens, but no review or book has dealt with them. The present review is an attempt to fill this void and focuses on sample preparation methods unique to atomic and X-ray spectroscopic techniques. The techniques covered are: flame and electrothermal AAS, inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES), inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRF) since these are most commonly used in trace element analysis of biological materials. The intent is not to present the procedural details for the various tissues or elements, but rather to highlight the methods which are unique to each instrument. The bibliography accompanying this review should aid the analytical chemist in his/her search for the detailed preparation protocols.     

On-line sample processing involving microextraction techniques as a front-end to atomic spectrometric detection for trace metal assays: A review

Within the last decade, liquid-phase microextraction (LPME) and micro-solid phase extraction (μSPE) approaches have emerged as substitutes for conventional sample processing procedures for trace metal assays within the framework of green chemistry. This review surveys the progress of the state of the art in simplification and automation of microextraction approaches by harnessing to the various generations of flow injection (FI) as a front end to atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS), atomic fluorescence spectrometry (AFS) or inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry or mass spectrometry (ICP-AES/MS). It highlights the evolution of flow injection analysis and related techniques as vehicles for appropriate sample presentation to the detector and expedient on-line matrix separation and pre-concentration of trace levels of metals in troublesome matrices. Rather than being comprehensive this review is aimed at outlining the pros and cons via representative examples of recent attempts in automating green sample preparation procedures in an FI or sequential injection (SI) mode capitalizing on single-drop microextraction, dispersive liquid-phase microextraction and advanced sorptive materials including carbon and metal oxide nanoparticles, ion imprinted polymers, superparamagnetic nanomaterials and biological/biomass sorbents. Current challenges in the field are identified and the synergetic combination of flow analysis, nanotechnology and metal-tagged biomolecule detection is envisaged.     

Concentrations of hazardous heavy metals in environmental samples collected in Xiamen, China, as determined by vapor generation non-dispersive atomic fluorescence spectrometry.

Non-dispersive atomic fluorescence spectrometry (NDAFS) coupled with vapor generation (VG) sample introduction was applied to the determination of the concentrations of hazardous heavy metals, such as arsenic, cadmium, lead and mercury, in seawater, soils and total airborne particulate matter (PM) collected around the Xiamen area in China. Almost 100% sample introduction efficiency was achieved by using thiourea and ascorbic acid for the pre-reduction of As(V) to As(III), K3Fe(CN)6 and tartaric acid for pre-oxidation of Pb(II) to Pb(IV), and masking the interferences arising from the co-existing transition metals to As, Cd, Hg and Pb during their vapor generation process. Moreover, a novel sample pretreatment device was developed to avoid the loss of mercury, lead, cadmium and arsenic during sample pretreatment. With such methods, the detection limit (DL) of arsenic, cadmium, lead and mercury was down to 0.08, 0.03, 0.05, 0.01 ng mL(-1) (3sigma), respectively. The relative standard deviations (RSD, n = 11) for arsenic, cadmium, lead and mercury at 10 ng mL(-1) were 0.9%, 1.6%, 1.3% and 2.0%, respectively. The concentrations of hazardous heavy metals in the environmental samples collected in Xiamen, China are in the range from 0.02 +/- 0.001 ng mL(-1) in seawater to 15.3 +/- 0.2 microg g(-1) in soils. Besides flame/GF-AAS and ICP-AES/MS, VG-NDAFS should be another choice for the determination of hazardous heavy metals in environmental samples.     

Investigation of Matrix Effects for Direct Determination of Trace Metals in Seawater Using Direct Sample Insertion -Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrometry

Direct sample insertion (DSI) technique is an alternative sample introduction method for inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES). Sample introduction efficiency of the DSI technique is 100% versus 3-5% for pneumatic nebulization and 30-40% for ultrasonic nebulization. DSI also has the ability to handle small volume (μL) of solution and small quantity (mg) of solids with little or no sample pre-treatment.     

Determination of osmium in waste water by graphite furnance atomic absorption spectrometry

The determination of osmium in waste water by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS) with a graphite furnace atomiser has been investigated. The atomisation characteristics of osmium on the atomiser were found to result in optimal ashing and atomisation temperatures of 300–500 and 3180 °C, respectively.The characteristic mass (the mass of element giving 0.0044 abs.) of osmium after optimization was found to be 1.6ng, which is better than obtained with flame AAS and ultraviolet/visible (UV) absorption spectrophotometry. The detection limit (s/n = 3) was 3.6ng (or 0.36 (g ml^–1). The relative std. deviation obtained with graphite furnace AAS was 3.0%.The interference caused by large amounts of common cations and anions in waste water were evaluated and thiourea as matrix modifier was shown to be able to eliminate many interferences. The recovery of osmium spiked in waste water was considered almost satisfactory at the 1–50 g ml^–1 range and the results were shown to well agree with the analytical values obtained by UV absorption spectrophotometry.     

Determination of cadmium in water by ICP-AES with on-line adsorption preconcentration using DPTH-gel and TS-gel microcolumns

Two flow injection inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometric methods for the preconcentration and determination of trace amounts of cadmium in sea-water and waste-water samples are described based on the adsorption of the metal ion on a micro-column placed in the injection valve of the FI manifold and packed with silica gel funtionalised with 1,5-bis(di-2-pyridyl) methylene thiocarbohydrazide (DPTH-gel) and silica gel functionalised with methylthiosalicylate (TS-gel), respectively. Various parameters and chemical variables affecting the preconcentration and determination of this metal by ICP-AES are evaluated. The DPTH-gel preconcentration method has a linear calibration range from 5 to at least 100 ng ml(-1) of cadmium, with a R.S.D. of 1.1% for ten independent analyses of 100 ng ml(-1), a detection limit of 1.1 ng ml(-1) and a throughput of 40 samples per hour using a 60 s preconcentration time. The TS-gel preconcentration method shows a linear range between 10 and 100 ng ml(-1), with a R.S.D. of 2.5% for ten independent analyses of 100 ng ml(-1), a detection limit of 4.3 ng ml(-1) and a sample throughput of 24 samples per hour for a preconcentration time of 120 s. Validation was carried out against a certified reference water sample and by determining the analyte content in spiked synthetic sea-water, sea-water and waste-water.     

ICP-AES法测定铜磁铁矿中铜、锰、铝、钙、镁、钛和磷量

通过样品处理、干扰试验、方法检出限、准确性和精密度试验,确定了最佳实验条件,建立了电感耦合等离子体-原子发射光谱法测定铜磁铁矿中铜、锰、铝、钙、镁、钛和磷含量的方法。试料经盐酸、硝酸、氢氟酸、高氯酸分解,用盐酸溶解盐类,过滤,采用电感耦合等离子体发射光谱法同时测定滤液中铜、锰、铝、钙、镁、钛和磷量。方法检出限：锰、钛和磷小于0.00085%,其它元素小于0.0054%,分析结果与分光光度法、XRF法和AAS法分析结果一致,8个实验室对5个水平样品进行协同试验给出了方法的精密度。     

Certified sediment reference materials for trace element analysis from the National Metrology Institute of Japan (NMIJ)

Two types of sediment reference material (NMIJ 7302-a and 7303-a) for trace elements analysis have been prepared and certified by the National Metrology Institute of Japan in the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (NMIJ/AIST). The original materials were collected from a bay near industrial activity in Kyushu (NMIJ CRM 7302-a; marine sediment) and from Lake Biwa (NMIJ CRM 7303-a; lake sediment). The sediment materials were air-dried, sieved, homogenized, packaged in 1000 glass bottles (60 g each), and radiation sterilized. Certification of these CRM for trace elements was conducted by NMIJ, where each element was determined by at least two independent analytical techniques. Isotope-dilution inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP–MS) was applied for certification of all the elements except mono-nuclide elements such as As and Co. Other techniques such as ICP–MS with quadrupole mass spectrometry and sector-field mass spectrometry, inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP–AES), and atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS), were also used. Certified values have been provided for 14 elements (Sb, As, Cd, Cr, Co, Cu, Pb, Hg, Mo, Ni, Se, Ag, Sn, and Zn) in both CRM.     

Combined use of atomic spectrometric methods in the analysis of rocks

Standard reference materials of limestone, granite and argillite were analyzed by X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XFS), flame and graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (F-AAS and G-AAS), and inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES). The major elements Al, Ca, Fe, Si and Ti were determined by XFS and ICP-AES. The relative standard deviations (RSD) of the concentrations of the corresponding oxides obtained by XFS and ICP-AES were (1.36±0.51)% (n=18) and (1.30±0.70)% (n=17), respectively, on the average. The relative deviations (RD) from the certified values were (1.29±3.01)% (n=18) and (–0.69±5.48)% (n=14), respectively, on the average. The numbers in parentheses are the numbers of the single RSD- and RD-values used for the calculation of the averages and the relative standard deviations. Some minor and trace elements of the standard reference materials were determined by G-AAS and ICP-AES. The precision (RSD) was markedly better in the case of ICP-AES. On the other hand, the accuracy (RD) of both methods was about the same (7%). Apparently, the precision and the accuracy are primarily determined by the measuring technique and the sample pretreatment procedure, respectively. The analytical power of the combined use of atomic spectrometric methods is also discussed.     

Determination of transition and rare earth elements in low-alloy steels as chelates with 4-(2-Thiazolylazo)resorcinol by reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography

4-(2-Thiazolylazo)resorcinol (TAR) is used as a chelating reagent in the reversed-phase HPLC separation and determination of transition and rare earth elements in low-alloy steels. A precolumn derivatization method is used, followed by separation on an octadecyl-bonded silica stationary phase with a sodium octane-1-sulphonate-tartaric acid mobile phase. The eluted metal chelates are detected by uv-visible spectrophotometry. The requirements for sample preparation, characterization of precolumn derivatization and the optimum conditions for the sensitive detection of metal ions after liquid chromatography (LC) separation are discussed. The influence of the pH of the chelating medium and the eluent, the concentration of TAR and the eluent were investigated. The results are compared with those of other methods such as atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS) and inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES).     

Determination of heavy metal concentration in feed and permeate streams of polymer enhanced ultrafiltration process

Polymer enhanced ultrafiltration (PEUF) is a newly developed method for the removal of heavy metals from aqueous solutions. This method was applied for the removal of mercury and cadmium with the presence of polyethyleneimine (PEI) as a water soluble polymer. After ultrafiltration experiments for metal–polymer mixtures, two separate streams, namely, retentate and permeate, former of which contains mainly metal–polymer complex and free polymer molecules while latter of which mainly contains free metal ions, were obtained. At the end of PEUF experiments, performance of operation was determined by concentration analyses which was achieved by atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) applied in a different way for permeate and retentate streams considering the effect of presence of polymer. For mercury analysis, cold vapor AAS was applied. It was observed that the presence of PEI did not affect the atomic absorption signal when 10% HCl was added to the sample solutions. For calcium and cadmium, flame AAS was used. It was observed that change in PEI concentration results in change in measured concentration of calcium and cadmium. Therefore, two new approaches were developed for accurate measurement of concentrations of calcium and cadmium. It was also observed that presence of other metals did not affect the accuracy of the measurement of a particular metal in the concentration range studied.