Determination of Arsenic and Mercury in Soil by Microwave Digestion and Hidride GenerationAtomic Fluorescence Spectrometry

[Objective] The aim was to develop a rapid, simple method for determina- tion of arsenic and mercury in soil samples by atomic fluorescence spectrometry. [Method] The method for determination of As and Hg in soil by combined atomic fluorescence spectrometry and microwave digestion was used. [Result] The concentration curve was linear within the range of 0-80.0μg/L of As and 0-8.0 μg/L of Hg, and the detection limits of As and Hg was 0.036 μg/L and 0.015 μg/L, respectively. The precision for elevenfold determination of As at 40.0 ug/L level and Hg at 4.0μg/L level were 1.1% and 2.2%（RSD）, respectively. Recoveries of 103.0%-106.6% for As and 90.0%-95.0% for Hg were obtained for there soil samples. [Conclusion] The proposed method has the advantages of simple operation, high sensitivity, and high efficiency; it was successfully used for determination of As and Hg in soil samples.

Determination of Chromium and Zinc in Soil by Microwave Digestion and Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrometry

[Objective] The aim was to develop a rapid, simple method for determination of chromium and zinc in soil samples by flame atomic absorption spectrometry.[Method] The method for determination of Cr and Zn in soil by combined flame atomic absorption spectrometry and microwave digestion was used. [Result] The concentration curve was linear within the range of 0-0.8 mg/L for Cr and 0-0.8 mg/L for Zn, the detection limits of Cr and Zn was 0.0025 mg/L and 0.002 3 mg/L, respectively. Recoveries of 102.4%-103.2% for Cr and 97.7%-98.3% for Zn were obtained for there soil samples. [Conclusion] The proposed method has the advantages of simple operation, high sensitivity, and high efficiency; it was successfully used for determination of Cr and Zn in soil samples.

Determination of Trace Elements in Potatoes by Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrometry

[Objective] This study aimed to analyze the contents of trace elements in potatoes from different production areas in Qinghai Province. [Method] By flame atomic absorption spectrometry （FAAS）, the contents of various trace elements in potatoes were determined. [Result] Potatoes contain abundant trace elements such as Cu, Zn, Fe, Mn, Ca, K and Mg. To be specific, the contents of Ca, K and Mg were relatively high. [Conclusion] By using FAAS, the relative standard deviation was 1.17%-2.75% and the recovery rate was 97%-99.5%, indicating accurate and reli-able results with high precision.

Determination of Ultratrace Amounts of Copper(Ⅱ) in Water Samples by Electrothermal Atomic Absorption Spectrometry After Cloud Point Extraction

A novel approach was developed for the determination of ultratrace amounts of copper in water samples by using electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry （ETAAS） after cloud point extraction （ CPE ）. 1-（ 2-Pyridylazo ） -2- naphthol was used as the chelating reagent and Triton X-114 as the mieellar-forming surfactant. CPE was conducted in a pH 8. 0 medium at 40 ℃ for 10 rain. After the separation of the phases by contrifugafion, the surfactant-rieh phase was diluted with 1 mL of a methanol solution of 0. 1 mol/L HNO3. Then 20μL of the diluted surfactant-rieh phase was injected into the graphite furnace for atomization in the absence of any matrix modifier. Various experimental conditions that affect the extraction and atomization processes were optimized. A detection limit of 5 ng/L was obtained after preconeentration. The linear dynamic range of the copper mass concentration was found to be 0-2.0 ng/mL, and the relative standard deviation was found to be less than 3. 1% for a sample containing 1.0 ng/mL Cu （ Ⅱ ）. This developed method was successfully applied to the determination of uhratraee amounts of Cu in drinking water, tap water, and seawater samples.

Cloud point extraction and flame atomic absorption spectrometry analysis of palladium, platinum, and gold ions from industrial polluted soil

Cloud point extraction (CPE) with Tergitol TMN-6 was applied for the extraction of trace amounts of palladium (Pd(Ⅱ)), platinum (Pt(Ⅳ)), and gold (Au(Ⅲ)) in the soil of industrial sewage. Ammonium pyrolysine dithiocarbamate (APDC) was adopted as the chelating agent prior to CPE and then was detected by atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS). Different parameters such as the concentration of surfactants, chelating agent and salt, sample pH, equilibration temperature and time, centrifugation time and rates, and the effect of foreign ions were studied. Under optimum conditions, the low limits of detections are 1.4, 2.8 and 1.2 ng·ml^-1 and the enrichment factors are 21, 12, and 24 for Pd(Ⅱ), Pt(Ⅳ), and Au(Ⅲ, respectively. The relative standard deviations vary from 0.6% to 1.0% (n=11). All correlation coefficients of the calibration curves are >0.9960. The proposed method was successfully applied for the determination of Pd(Ⅱ), Pt(Ⅳ), and Au(Ⅲ) in the real soil of industrial sewage samples.

Analysis of trace mercury in water by solid phase extraction using dithizone modified nanometer titanium dioxide and cold vapor atomic absorption spectrometry

A new method for analysis of trace mercury in water samples was developed, based on the combination of preconcentration/separation using dithizone-modified nanometer titanium dioxide （TiO2） as a solid phase extractant and determination by cold vapor atomic adsorption spectrometry （CVAAS）. Dithizone was dissolved with alcohol and loaded on the surface of nano-sized TiO2 powders by stirring. The static adsorption behavior of Hg^2＋on the dithizone-modified nanoparficles was investigated in detail. It was found that excellent adsorption ratio for Hg^2＋ could be obtained in the pH range of 7-8 with an oscillation time of 15 rain, and a 5 mL of 3.5 mol·L^-1 HCI solution could quantitatively elute Hg^2＋ from nanometer TiO2 powder. Common coexisting ions caused no obvious influence on the determination of mercury. The mechanisms for the adsorption and desorption were discussed. The detection limit （30） for Hg^2＋ was calculated to be 5 ng·L^-1. The proposed method was applied to the determination of Hg^2＋ in a mineral water sample and a Zhujiang River water sample. By the standard addition method, the average recoveries were found to be 94.4%-108.3% with RSD （n = 5） of 2.9%-3.5%.

Determination of total arsenic by photo-decomposition of organoarsenic compounds and hydride generation electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry

A method was developed for the determination of total arsenic concentration in less than ng/ml level by decomposition of organoarsenicals using photo -oxidation combined with in situ trapping of arsenic hydride on a palladium coated graphite tube with subsequent atomization and detection by AAS. The organoarsenicals include monomethylarsenic, dimethylarsenic, arsenobetaine, arsenocholine, o -aminobenzenarsenate and p -aminobenzenarsenate. The method is simple and sensitive. Detection limit was obtained from different arsenic compounds over the range from 0. 058 to 0.063 ng/ml as As (based on three times of the standard deviation of 10 blank measurements) and the relative standard deviations for ten replicate measurements were from 2.0 to 3.8%. The calibration curves of arsenic compounds including inorganic and organic arsenicals were linear over the range from 0.1 to 3.0 ng/ml as As. The recommended method has been applied to the determination of total arsenic in tap and lake water samples at ng/ml levels.

Determination of Trace Amounts of Nickel (Ⅱ) by Graphite Furnace Atomic Absorption Spectrometry Coupled with Cloud Point Extraction

A new method based on the cloud point extraction（CPE） for separation and preconcentration of nickel（Ⅱ） and its subsequent determination by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry（GFAAS） was proposed, 8-hydroxyquinoline and Triton X-100 were used as the ligand and surfactant respectively. Nickel（Ⅱ） can form a hy-drophobic complex with 8-hydroxyquinoline, the complex can be extracted into the small volume surfactant rich phase at the cloud point temperature（CPT） for GFAAS determination. The factors affecting the cloud point extraction, such as pH, ligand concentration, surfactant concentration, and the incubation time were optimized. Under the optimal conditions, a detection limit of 12 ng/L and a relative standard deviation（RSD） of 2.9% were obtained for Ni（Ⅱ） determination. The enrichment factor was found to be 25. The proposed method was successfully applied to the determination of nickel（Ⅱ） in certified reference material and different types of water samples and the recovery was in a range of 95%―103%.

Application of multiwalled carbon nanotubes treated by potassium permanganate for determination of trace cadmium prior to flame atomic absorption spectrometry

In this study we investigated the enrichment ability of oxidized multiwalled carbon nanotubes （MWCNTs） and established a new method for the determination of trace cadmium in environment with flame atomic absorption spectrometry. The MWCNTs were oxidized by potassium permanganate under appropriate conditions before use as preconcentration packing. Parameters influencing the recoveries of target analytes were optimized. Under optimal conditions, the target analyte exhibited a good linearity （R^2=0.9992） over the concentration range 0.5-50 ng/ml. The detection limit and precision of the proposed method were 0.15 ng/ml and 2.06%, respectively. The proposed method was applied to the determination of cadmium in real-world environmental samples and the recoveries were in the range of 91.3%-108.0%. All these experimental results indicated that this new procedure could be applied to the determination of trace cadmium in environmental waters.

Flow Injection Semi-online Preconcentration Graphite Furnace Atomic Absorption Spectrometry for Determination of Cadmium,Copper and Manganese

A micro-flow injection sorbent extraction preconcentration system was combined with a graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry that formed an integrated system for the determination of trace amounts of elements. The analytical performances of the prospsed method for determining Cd, Cu and Mn were studied. The analytes were preconcentrated with a thiol resin(Type 190, produced by Nankai University, China) whose active group is -SH. The elements to be determined were preconcentrated onto the column for 60 s and then rinsed with deionized water and eluted with 30 μL of 1 mol/L HCl. The graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry(GFAAS) determination of the concentrated analyte was carried out in parallel with the next preconcentration cycle. Enrichment factors 41, 22 and 20 and detection limits(3 σ , n =10) 0.36, 3.8 and 7.0 ng/L for Cd, Cu and Mn, respectively, along with a sampling frequency of 20 h -1 , were obtained with a 60 s loading time at a sample flow rate of 3.5 mL/min. The analytical results for a number of water samples show that the flow-injection semi-online column preconcentration can not only eliminate the effect of some concomitant elements, such as Li, Na, K, Ca and Mg, on the determination of the analyte, but also enhance the sensitivity.

Speciation Analysis of Arsenic Compounds in Seafood by Ion Chromatography-Atomic Fluorescence Spectrometry

Ion chromatography-ultra violet-hydride generation-Atomic Florescence Spectrometry was applied to detect 5 arsenic species in seafoods. The arsenic species studied include arsenobetaine(As B), arsenite(As(III)), dimethylarsinic acid(DMA), monomethylarsonic acid(MMA), and arsenate(As(V)), which were extracted from samples using 2% formic acid. Gradient elution using 33 mmol L^(-1) CH_3COONH_4 and 15 mmol L^(-1) Na_2CO_3 with 10 mL CH_3CH_2OH at pH 8.4 allowed the chromatographic separation of all the species on a Hamilton PRP-X100 anion-exchange column in less than 8 min. In this study, an ultrasound extraction method was used to extract arsenic species from seafood. The extraction efficiency was good and the recoveries from spiked samples were in the range of 72.6%–109%; the precision between sample replicates was higher than 3.6% for all determinations. The detection limits were 3.543 μg L^(-1) for As B, 0.4261 μg L^(-1) for As(III), 0.216 μg L^(-1) for DMA, 0.211 μg L^(-1) for MMA, and 0.709 μg L^(-1) for As(V), and the linear coefficients were greater than 0.999. We also developed an application of this method for the determination of arsenic species in bonito, Euphausia superba, and Enteromorpha with satisfactory results. Therefore, it was confirmed that this method was appropriate for the detection of arsenic species in seafood.

On-line Preconcentration of Trace Nickel from Electrolytic Manganese Using Minicolumn Packed Activated Carbon for Electrothermal Atomic Absorption Spectrometry

The online flow injection preconcentration and electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry method were used for the determination of trace nickel in electrolytic manganese samples by sorption on a conical minicolumn packed with activated carbon at pH 9.0. The nickel was eluted from the minicolumn with 10%(v/v) nitric acid. An enrichment factor of 190-fold for a sample volume of 10mL was obtained. The detection limit (DL) of nickel with the use of the preconcentration method was 13ng·g -1in the original solid sample. The precision for 10 replicate determinations at 150ng·g -1 nickel concentration was 5.2% relative standard deviation (RSD). The calibration graph was linear with a correlation coefficient of r=0.9996 up to concentration of 660ng·g -1 nickel.

Preconcentration of copper with multi-walled carbon nanotubes pretreated by potassium permanganate cartridge for solid phase extraction prior to flame atomic absorption spectrometry

A procedure for the preconcentration of copper was described in this paper using multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) oxidized by potassium permanganate as the adsorbent for the enrichment of trace copper in water samples. Important parameters, such as the sample pH, the concentration and volume of eluent, sample flow rate and volume, and interference of coexisting ions, were investigated. The obtained results indicated that proposed method possessed an excellent analytical performance. The linear range, the detection limit, and precison (RSD) were 1–100 ng/mL (R(2) = 0.9993), 0.32 ng/mL and 2.88%, respectively. The results showed that copper could be adsorbed quantitatively on the pretreated MWCNTs with potassium permanganate, and proposed method was very useful in the monitoring of copper in the environment.

Determination of trace elements in maifanite by outer cover electrode atomic emission spectrometry

Maifanite is a nature medicinal stone used in many fields for long time. Theresearch on it showed that there are many trace elements in maifanite. In this paper, 36 traceelements in maifanite were determined by outer cover electrode atomic emission spectrometry, and thedetermination conditions were studied systematically. The results show that the concentrations ofelements, which are beneficial to human health, are higher, and the elements harmful to peoplehealth such as As, Cd, Hg, Cr, and Pb are tiny in maifanite. The precision and the accuracy werealso discussed.

Determination of Iron in Layered Crystal Sodium Disilicate and Sodium Silicate by Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrometry with Boric Acid as a Matrix Modifier

The effects of matrix silicate and experimental conditions on the determination of iron in flame atomic absorption spectrometry （FAAS） were investigated. It was found that boric acid as a matrix modifier obviously eliminated silicate interference. Under the optimum operating conditions, the determination results of iron in layered crystal sodium disilicate and sodium silicate samples by FAAS were satisfactory. The linear range of calibration curve is 0-10.5 μg.mL^-1, the relative standard deviation of method is 1.2%-2.2%, the recovery of added iron is 96.0%- 101%, the sensitivity is 0.19 μg.mL^-l and the detection limit is 77 ng.mL^-1. The effect of the determination of iron of the standard curve method, standard addition calibration and colorimetry method was the same, but the first has the merits of rapid sample preparation, reduced contamination risks and fast analysis.

Preconcentration of Vanadium(Ⅴ) on Crosslinked Chitosan and Determination by Graphite Furnace Atomic Absorption Spectrometry

A new method is proposed for the preconcentration of vanadium(Ⅴ) with crosslinked chitosan (CCTS) and determination by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GFAAS). The adsorption rate of vanadium(Ⅴ) by CCTS was 97% at pH 4.0, and vanadium(Ⅴ) was eluted from crosslinked chitosan with 2 mL 2.0 mol·L -1 chlorhydric acid and determined by GFAAS. The detection limit (3σ,n=7) for vanadium(Ⅴ) was 4.8×1 0 -12g and the relative standard deviation (R.S.D) at concentration level of 2.6 μg·L -1 is less than 3.6%. The method shows a good selectivity and high sensitivity, and it was applied to determination of vanadium(Ⅴ) in oyster and water samples. The analytic recoveries are (97±5)%.

Determination of Trace Selenium in Electrolytic Manganese by Graphite Furnace Atomic Absorption Spectrometry

The effects of four types of graphite tube and five matrix modifiers on the determination of selenium by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry were compared.The results show that platform thermolysis coat graphite tube and magnesium nitrate and cobaltco as matrix modifer can get a high sensitivity and a good recovery.The optimized working conditions and interference in the determination were invesigated.This result is consistent with that of XRF.The recovery is from 100.8 % to102.2 %,the relative standard deviation is from 3.47% to 5.56 % (n=9),and the detection limit of selenium is 378 pg (C=44.5μg/g to 97.3μg/g.).The proposed method can be applied to the rapid determination of selenium in electrolytic manganese.

Determination of Trace Iron in High Purity Sodium Fluoride by Graphite Furnace Atomic Absorption Spectrometry

A method is described for the direct determination of iron in high purity sodium fluoride using graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry. Interferences caused by the matrix are investigated. It is shown that the ashing temperature can be increased to 1 400°C and matrix interferences eliminated, the sensitivity of iron increased in 1. 27 fold by the addition of nickel nitrate. The method is applied to the determination of iron in sodium fluoride and satisfactory results are obtained.

Uncertainty in Detecting Copper and Zinc Contents in Maize Flour by Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrometry with Wet Digestion Method

[ Objective] This study aimed to evaluate the uncertainty in detecting copper and zinc contents in maize flour by flame atomic absorption spectrometry. [ Method] Combined with the actual inspection experience, the uncertainty in detecting copper and zinc contents in maize flour by tame atomic absorption spec- trometry was evaluated to establish the mathematical model. The uncertainty sources in the experimental process were investigated to analyze several components af- fecting the uncertainty in sample detection, including sample weighing, standard material transfer, solution dilution and volume setting, curve fitting, and repeat- ability of measurement instruments. [ Result] Standard curve fitting and repeatability test were two major factors that significantly affected the combined standard uncertainty. However, in the actual detection process, standard curve calibration and repeated detection procedures should be controlled strictly. Finally, the ex- panded uncertainty of copper and zinc contents in maize flour was （ 1.38 ± 0.08） mg/kg and （ 10.20 ± 1.20） mg/kg, respectively. [ Conclusion] This study provided reference for improving the accuracy and reliability of the detection method.

Determination of Exchangeable Ca and Mg Contents in Tobacco Growing Area by Atomic Absorption Spectrometry

[Objective] A method for the determination of exchangeable Ca and Mg contents in tobacco growing area by atomic absorption spectrometry was established. [Method] Factors in the extraction process, sample weight, ammonium acetate volume, extraction time and strontium chloride volume were tested, and the stability, precision and accuracy of the method were also investigated. Meanwhile, samples at different pH values were determined by this method. [Result] The results showed that this method operation has simple operation with good stability and high precision. [Conclusion] This method could be applied to determine exchangeable Ca and Mg contents in tobacco growing area.