Calibrated nanoinjections of mercury vapor

A simple technique for the calibration of mercury vapor chemosensors is described. It is based on a reductive deposition of a well-defined quantity of mercury (0) onto gold wire followed by thermal evaporation of the mercury into the sensor cell. The quantity of mercury on the gold wire was measured electrochemically by oxidation before and after heating, as well as after storage under different conditions. It is shown that the technique can be used for calibrated injections of nanogram quantities of mercury. The approach was applied to test the performance of ultrasensitive mercury chemoresistors.     

Simultaneous microdetermination of carbon,hydrogen, mercury,chlorine, bromine and sulphur in organic compounds

A simple, reliable method for the simultaneous microdetermination of carbon, hydrogen, mercury, chlorine (or bromine) and sulphur in organic compounds is described. The intermediate storage technique is used. Sulphur and the halogens are absorbed on electrolytic silver and determined gravimetrically or titrimetrically. Mercury is absorbed on gold wire, and is weighed as the metal or desorbed and determined by a mercury-8-hydroxy-quinoline method.     

A highly sensitive method for the determination of mercury using vapor generation gold wire microextraction and electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry

The study introduces a new simple and highly sensitive method for headspace solid phase microextraction (HS-SPME) coupled with electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometric determination of mercury. In the proposed method, a gold wire, mounted in the headspace of a sample solution in a sealed bottle, is used for collection of mercury vapor generated by addition of sodium tetrahydroborate. The gold wire is then simply inserted in the sample introduction hole of a graphite furnace of an electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry instrument. By applying an atomization temperature of 600 °C, mercury is rapidly desorbed from the wire and determined with high sensitivity.     

Mercury speciation in environmental samples by cold vapour atomic absorption spectrometry with in situ preconcentration on a gold trap

A method has been developed for the determination of total and organic mercury in biological materials and sediments. A microwave assisted mineralization of the organic mercury, after its extraction from the matrix, is described. This procedure warrants complete transformation of Hg(II) and, consequently, the quantitative reduction to Hg(0). The conditions for mercury reduction were optimized by a central composite design. The preconcentration of the analyte has been achieved by amalgamation on a trap system, consisting in a pyrolytic graphite platform wound by a gold wire. Mercury was determined by cold vapour atomic absorption spectrometry. The method was validated by the analysis of two certified reference materials and applied to the determination of total and organic mercury species in mussel tissues and sediments. The method is simple and practical, and offers the advantage of not requiring special equipment to measure inorganic and organic mercury simultaneously.     

Simultaneous sampling and analysis for vapor mercury in ambient air using needle trap coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

A needle trap (NT) technique for simultaneous sampling and analysis of vapor and particle mercury in ambient air using gold wire filled in a syringe needle has been developed. This NT technique relies on gold amalgamation rather than adsorption/absorption to traditional solid-phase microextraction. Hg trapped by Au-amalgamation NT is thermally desorbed in a hot injection port of a gas chromatograph; desorbed Hg is then determined by the coupled mass spectrometer. This simultaneous sampling and analysis technique were optimized, tested, and used for the collection and accurate determination of elemental Hg in ambient air. Linear calibration curves were obtained for Hg sampling by NT when mass spectrometry (MS) was used for detection; they spanned over 4 orders of magnitude. MS offered excellent sensitivity and selectivity. Selected ion monitor (SIM) mode was used for the linear calibration curves. The selected quantitation ion was m/z 202, since m/z 202 was the strongest isotope of mercury mass spectrum. The method was verified with HgCl(2) spiked solution samples. An excellent agreement was found between the results obtained for the Hg-saturated air samples and HgCl(2) spiked solution samples. The use of the Au-amalgamation gas-sampling needle trap method, for the measurement of Hg in air and Hg(2+) water samples, is described herein.     

Determination of mercury in mineral coal using cold vapor generation directly from slurries,trapping in a graphite tube,and electrothermal atomization

A rugged and reliable method for the determination of mercury in coal without sample digestion, based on chemical vapor generation (cold vapor technique) from slurried coal samples has been developed. It involves collection of the mercury vapor in a graphite tube, treated with gold or rhodium as permanent modifier, and determination by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry. Mercury quantitatively leached out of the investigated coal reference materials into 1 mol l⁻¹ nitric acid within 48 h when the coal was ground to a particle size of ≤50 μm, except for one sample (BCR 180), which had to be ground to ≤30 μm, or a leaching time of 72 h had to be used. No detectable quantity of mercury was generated directly from the slurry particles, but it was not necessary to filter the solution. The greatest advantage of the method is that only a minimum of reagents and sample handling steps are required, a prerequisite for accurate results in routine analysis. The results were well within the 95% confidence level of the certificate or close to the information value of the reference materials investigated. The characteristic mass of 110 pg obtained with gold as the permanent modifier is close to values reported for direct analysis of solutions, showing close to 100% trapping efficiency for mercury. A limit of detection (LOD) of 90 pg absolute was obtained with this modifier, which corresponds to an LOD of 0.009 μg g⁻¹ Hg in coal. This is based on 1 ml of slurry containing 10 mg of coal, and is an order of magnitude lower than the lowest mercury content in the investigated reference materials.     

Gold and Silver Micro‐Wire Electrodes for Trace Analysis of Metals

Micro‐wire electrodes were made from gold and silver wires (diameter: 25 μm; length: 3–21 mm) and sealed in a polyethylene holder; micro‐disk electrodes were made from the same wires and polished. The gold electrodes were electrochemically coated with mercury before use; the silver wires were used without coating. Comparative measurements demonstrated that the micro‐wire electrodes had much higher sensitivity, and a much (10–100×) lower limit of detection, than micro‐disk electrodes, and the sensitivity increased linearly with the area and length of the electrodes. Using a gold micro‐wire electrode of 21 mm and a deposition time of 300 s the limit of detection was 0.07 nM Pb in seawater of natural pH, compared to a limit of detection of 10 nM Pb (more than 100×greater) using a gold micro‐disk electrode of the same diameter. Using the silver micro‐wire electrode the limit of detection of lead was improved by a factor of 10 to 0.2 nM in acidified seawater. It is expected that the improved sensitivity of micro‐wire electrodes will lead to successful in situ detection of metals in natural waters.     

Versuche zur Anreicherung von Edelmetallspuren in Reinstquecksilber durch partielles Lösen der Matrix

Trace impurities of gold and palladium in metallic mercury can be enriched in a simple way by partially dissolving the sample in nitric acid. Practically the whole trace content of the sample will be collected in the residue. Up to at least 100 g Hg the quantity of the mercury sample has no influence on the trace enrichment. After the partial dissolution of the metal the enriched gold was determined photometrically with Rhodamine B as a reagent, Pd was determined as [PdJ₄]^2? complex. For the analysis of metallic mercury containing 0.5 ppm of Au and 2 ppm of Pd the relative standard deviation is 0.046, respectively 0.037. The limit of detection was found to be at 0.2 ppm for both the elements. Using this method, the enrichment of traces of silver in mercury is not possible.     

Differential-pulse anodic stripping voltammetry of mercury with gold-film micro-electrodes

Cylindrical gold film micro-electrodes are easily produced by plasma-sputtering of gold onto carbon fiber electrodes. The micro-electrodes produced were found to maintain their cylindrical geometry indefinitely, unlike gold wire electrodes of similar dimensions. Application of these electrodes in differential-pulse anodic stripping voltammetry provides a method for quantifying trace levels of mercury(II). Up to 100 μg l^?1 Hg(II) the area of the mercury stripping peak varied linearly with mercury concentration; the detection limit was 3.7 μg l^?1. With more than 100 μg l^?1 Hg(II) a new mercury stripping peak grows in at less positive potentials; its peak height is linear with Hg(II) concentration.     

Polyaniline as a base material for preparation of a mercury standard for use in neutron activation analysis

Polyaniline sorbed with microgram quantity of mercury was prepared and its homogeneity and stability with respect to mercury was evaluated over a period of time. The volatilisation loss of mercury during and after neutron irradiation was studied. It was found that polyaniline was homogeneous and stable with respect to mercury. No loss of mercury from polyaniline was observed during and after neutron irradiation. Thus polyaniline sorbed with mercury can serve as a good standard for neutron activation analysis of mercury.     

Determination of Ultra-trace Amounts of Selenium by Hydride Generation- Gold Wire Collection-Atomic Spectrometry

It is well known that mercury is the only metal which can be pre-concentration by gas phase amalgamation on a suitable noble metal such as Au,Au-Pt alloy wire, and subsequently determination by AAS and AFS. By using this technique, which only required a simple accessory, the detection limit of an analytical method can be greatly improved simply by increasing the sampling volume. Unfortunately, this enrichment technique could only be applied to Hg so far.     

Determination of mercury in table salt samples by on-line medium exchange anodic stripping voltammetry

A new method for the determination of traces of total mercury by using a gold film electrode in salt samples was developed. Table salts are known to contain mercury at ultra-trace level as well as a high quantity of chloride ions that cause severe disturbance during the stripping step when gold is used as the electrode material in voltammetric measurements. The interference of high chloride content in the determination of mercury was eliminated by reducing its concentration down to 3 x 10(-3) mol L(-1) level which is optimum for the determination by using on-line medium exchange procedure immediately after the deposition step. The deposition potential applied to the electrode was maintained at 0.2 V (vs. Ag/AgCl double junction electrode) while the cell content was sucked by a pump and replaced with fresh electrolyte simultaneously. The analyte loss resulted from the air contact of the electrode was prevented by this means. The mercury ions present in the salt samples were collected at +0.2 V for 60 s, the electrolyte was replaced by 0.1 mol L(-1) HClO4 and the potential was scanned, attaining a detection limit of 0.17 microg L(-1), with R.S.D. of 1.2% (S/N=3). The recovery of the method was 94.6%. The performance and accuracy of the method was compared with that of atomic fluorescence spectrometry (AFS). Consequently, this developed method can offer a wide range of application in saline samples.     

Determination of trace amounts of gold in waste water by graphite furnace atomic-absorption spectrophotometry with preconcentration on trioctylphosphine oxide chemically modified tungsten wire matrix

Preconcentration on a trioctylphosphine oxide (TOPO) chemically modified tungsten wire matrix followed by graphite furnace atomic-absorption spectrophotometry measurement is described for the determination of trace gold in waste water. The TOPO modified tungsten wire matrix, after accumulating the gold, is placed in a graphite cup for direct atomization and measurement. Under the selected conditions, the absorbance is proportional to the concentration of gold over the range 0.4-18 ng/ml and the detection limit is 0.2 ng/ml. This method is sensitive and convenient. It has been applied to some waste waters with satisfactory results.     

Determination of mercury by total-reflection X-ray fluorescence using amalgamation with gold

Analysis by total-reflection X-ray fluorescence (TXRF) is unsuitable for determining mercury concentrations because the usual sample preparation produces evaporation and loss of this element as a consequence of its high vapour pressure and low boiling point.A method that has been developed to achieve this determination involves forming an amalgam while a thin layer of silver (obtained by sputtering or evaporation) is in contact with an ionic solution of Hg; subsequently, a traditional TXRF analysis is performed. This was the first method reported in the literature to apply the TXRF technique for reliably determining mercury concentrations with high sensitivity.This work shows how a similar procedure may be employed to measure mercury concentrations. This second method involves forming an amalgam of gold using microlitre quantities of the solution to be analysed. As gold is a highly malleable material, it allows the production of very thin films, the weight of which is a few orders of magnitude higher than the mass of mercury present in the amalgam. The determination is performed in the usual way using the TXRF technique. The sensitivity of this method (≈ 5 ppm) is inferior to that of the former method, and data processing is quite difficult because the peaks for mercury and gold overlap, but the experiment is simple to execute and improved sensitivity is expected to be attained by forming the amalgam with larger volumes of sample and with a more responsive data processing scheme.     

Determination of mercury by differential-pulse anodic-stripping voltammetry with various working electrodes Application to the analysis of natural water sediments

Four types of working electrode (glassy-carbon and gold rotating-disk electrodes and two types of gold-film electrode) have been used in determination of traces of mercury by differential-pulse anodic-stripping voltammetry, and the analytical parameters of the procedures compared. The technique has been applied to the analysis of river sediments. The lowest limit of detection (0.02 μg/l.) was obtained with the gold rotating-disk electrode. Two procedures have been found optimal for analyses of sediment samples; determination with the gold rotating-disk electrode and solution-exchange after the preelectrolysis, and determination with the gold-film electrode prepared in situ in the sample extract. The sample pretreatment involved a separation of the 0.45–63 μm fraction, mineralization with a mixture of hydrochloric and nitric acids (3:1 or 1:3) under atmospheric pressure in a fused silica vessel, followed by irradiation with ultraviolet light, after addition of hydrogen peroxide (to destroy organic matter). The most serious interference is from iron; this can be prevented by adding fluoride or pyrophosphate. The procedure is an alternative to the AAS determination of the total mercury content in sediments, especially with heavily polluted samples (mercury concentrations up to 0.01%).     

A polypyrrole/polymethylene pattern on gold using a micro-contact printing technique

A micro-contact printing technique was used to fabricate a polypyrrole/polymethylene pattern on a gold surface. ω-(N-Pyrroyl)undecanethiol (PyC₁₁SH) acts as ink for the generation of a pyrrole-terminal monolayer patterned on gold. This monolayer-patterned surface functions as a resist for the selective growth of polymethylene by catalytic decomposition of diazomethane on the gold surface. It also functions as a monomer for the electrochemical polymerization of pyrrole on the PyC₁₁SH monolayer-patterned surface. The polypyrrole/polymethylene pattern was fabricated by an electrochemical polymerization method. The polypyrrole was grown on the pyrrole-patterned surface by potential scanning between 0.0 and 1.2 V vs. Ag wire. The thickness of the polypyrrole growth increases with the increasing number of cycles. The structural features of the patterned surface can be determined by scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. Electronic Publication     

Electrodeposition of mercury on gold from very dilute mercury(II) solution

Flameless atomic absorption spectrometry (flameless a.a.s.) was applied to study the state of mercury deposited on a gold plate electrode from very dilute mercury(II) solution by controlled-potential electrolysis. A stable monolayer is formed on the gold electrode by the electrolysis at a potential about 200 mV more positive than the reversible Nernst potential for the reduction of mercury(II) to mercury(0). After the monolayer formation, bulk mercury is deposited on the monolayer at the reversible potential and an adatom layer is also found. The difference of activation free energies between the evaporation of mercury from the monolayer and that from bulk mercury corresponds to the underpotential shift for the electrodeposition of mercury on the gold electrode.     

Determination of total mercury in workroom air by atomic absorption or x-ray fluorescence spectrometry after collection on carbon-loaded paper

The routine determination of total mercury in workroom air of an alkali chloride electrolysis plant equipped with mercury cells, is described. The procedure is based on atomic absorption spectrometry (a.a.s.) (cold vapour technique) or x-ray fluorescence spectrometry (x.r.f.s.) after collection on carbon-loaded paper fixed in a disposable Millipore filter holder. The lowest quantity of mercury that can be determined is 0.2 μg by a.a.s. and 2 μg by x.r.f.s. Samples taken in the plant gave a relative standard deviation of about 2 % for a.a.s. and 3 % for x.r.f.s.     

Speciation of mercury in soils and sediments by thermal evaporation and cold vapor atomic absorption

Evaporation studies of mercury in several chemical compounds, soils, and sediments with a high content of organic matter indicate that a quantitative release is possible at temperatures as low as 400°C. The desorption behaviour from a gold column is not influenced. Only from samples with a thermal prehistory, such as brown coal ash, did mercury evaporate at higher temperatures. Qualitative conclusions can be derived about the content of metallic mercury as well as mercury associated with organic matter or sulfide. A comparison of the analytical results obtained by using the evaporation technique or by dissolving using a mixture of conc. HCl and HNO₃ shows good agreement; the advantages of the evaporation technique are obvious at very low mercury concentrations.     

The determination of copper at thin film electrodes by constant current stripping potentiometry

A comparison of the determination of copper by constant current stripping potentiometry (CCSP) at mercury and gold films has been carried out. The preferred solution conditions for the mercury film study were determined to be 0.1M ammonium acetate at pH 4.5 and 0.1M HCl for the gold film study. The influence of chloride on the stripping signal was investigated and it was found that for the mercury film conditions, well-formed stripping signals could be obtained up to a chloride concentration of 0.5 M which permitted the ready determination of copper in seawater. With the gold film, high chloride concentrations affected both the film stability and the glassy carbon surface and repeatable results were difficult to obtain. The optimized CCSP methods were applied to various aqueous samples including tap water, seawater, TCLP (acetic acid) extracts as well as TCLP extracts using groundwater and ocean water. Based on the results obtained for these various matrices, it was concluded that there are several advantages favoring the mercury film. The interference from organic components in the sample matrix on the general applicability of CCSP for the determination of copper at either a mercury or gold film is discussed.