Sorption of arsenic,antimony and bismuth on glycolmethacrylate gels with bound thiol groups for direct sampling in electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry

Batch sorption of arsenic, antimony and bismuth from solutions in 1 M sulphuric acid has distribution coefficients of 10⁴–10⁵. Quantitative sorption on the hydrophilic methacrylate gel containing thiol groups (Spheron Thiol) is possible within 60 min for bismuth or arsenic and 120 min for antimony. Conditions for the electrothermal atomization of arsenic sorbed on Spheron Thiol and injected into the graphite tube as a suspension are optimized. The sensitivities possible are 3.2 ng As ml^-1, 13 ng Sb ml^-1 and 2.8 ng Bi ml^-1; the coefficient of variation for 10 ng of As is 4%. Complete recovery of 40 ng As ml^-1 added to solutions of 5% KCI or 5% MgCl₂ and to river water was obtained.