On-line electrochemically controlled in-tube solid phase microextraction of inorganic selenium followed by hydride generation atomic absorption spectrometry

In this work, for the first time, a rapid, simple and sensitive microextraction procedure is demonstrated for the matrix separation, preconcentration and determination of inorganic selenium species in water samples using an electrochemically controlled in-tube solid phase microextraction (EC-in-tube SPME) followed by hydride generation atomic absorption spectrometry (HG-AAS). In this approach, in which EC-in-tube SPME and HG-AAS system were combined, the total analysis time, was decreased and the accuracy, repeatability and sensitivity were increased. In addition, to increases extraction efficiency, a novel nanostructured composite coating consisting of polypyrrole (PPy) doped with ethyleneglycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) was prepared on the inner surface of a stainless-steel tube by a facile electrodeposition method. To evaluate the offered setup and the new PPy-EGDMA coating, it was used to extract inorganic selenium species in water samples. Extraction of inorganic selenium species was carried out by applying a positive potential through the inner surface of coated in-tube under flow conditions. Under the optimized conditions, selenium was detected in amounts as small as 4.0 parts per trillion. The method showed good linearity in the range of 0.012–200 ng mL⁻¹, with coefficients of determination better than 0.9996. The intra- and inter-assay precisions (RSD%, n = 5) were in the range of 2.0–2.5% and 2.7–3.2%, respectively. The validated method was successfully applied for the analysis of inorganic selenium species in some water samples and satisfactory results were obtained.