Determination of Trace Bismuth in Environmental Waters by ICP‐MS with Cobalt Ion‐Assisted Photochemical Vapour Generation

Abstract

With increasing use of bismuth in industry, a better understanding of its environmental behaviour is required, including an improved knowledge of its background concentration range in (non‐saline) freshwaters. However, the poor analytical sensitivity of previous methods may lead to inaccurate measurement results for Bi3+ in environmental samples. In this work, cobalt ion‐assisted photochemical vapour generation (PVG) was developed for the detection of trace Bi with inductively coupled plasma‐mass spectrometry (ICP‐MS) measurement. The volatile species of Bi was found to be (CH3)3Bi generated under UV irradiation in the presence of formic acid, acetic acid and Co2+. The major parameters potentially influencing the detection of Bi were investigated. Under optimised conditions, the limit of detection (3s, n = 11) of the proposed method was 0.3 ng l−1. The analytical sensitivity was enhanced about 70‐fold for Bi3+ compared with that using classic pneumatic nebulisation of ICP‐MS. Furthermore, the proposed method showed better analytical sensitivity and anti‐interference ability towards co‐existing ions compared with ferric ion‐assisted PVG systems. The accuracy of the proposed method was evaluated by analysis of environmental water samples and certified reference materials with satisfactory results.

Ultrasensitive Detection of Ruthenium by Coupling Cobalt and Cadmium Ion-Assisted Photochemical Vapor Generation to Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry

“…Using optimal generation conditions, the resulting overall PVG efficiency was determined to be 29% and can definitely be further enhanced if a higher concentration of Co 2+ in the medium is used (≈37% estimated for 50 mg L –1 ). Unfortunately, this was found unsuitable for long-term routine measurements due to the introduction of a high load of Co into the plasma, co-generated with ≈16% efficiency [likely as Co­(CO 4 )­H 1‑2 ]. , Excellent repeatability and reproducibility along with an excellent LOD in the range of 20–42 pg L –1 , likely one of the best ever reported using VG techniques without resorting to preconcentration, was achieved. Despite this impressively low LOD, quantitation of dissolved Ru in natural water samples remains difficult due to its extremely low endogenous concentrations.…”

Development of a Paper-Based Analytical Method for the Selective Colorimetric Determination of Bismuth in Water Samples

“…Many instrumental analytical methods have been developed for the determination of bismuth, utilizing various detection techniques, such as graphite furnace atomic absorption spectroscopy (GFAAS) [4,5], flame atomic absorption spectroscopy (FAAS) [6,7], inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) [8], hydride generation inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (HG-ICP-AES) [9], inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) [10,11], fluorescence [1,12], UV-vis spectrophotometry [13,14] and flow injection methods [15,16].…”

GC-MS exploration of photochemically generated species of Os, W and Ru from reductive and oxidative media

“…It is self-evident that knowledge of the analytical reaction products is fundamentally crucial to furthering our understanding and validation of possible PVG mechanisms. Many systems have been successfully characterized using gas chromatography mass-spectrometry (GC-MS) techniques, including As, 9,10 Bi, 11–13 Br, 14,15 Cl, 15,16 Co, 13,17 I, 18 F, 19 Fe, 20,21 Hg, 22 Mo, 10 Ni, 23 Sb, 10 Se 24 and Te. 25…”