Abstract
The determination of Hg in gasoline by cold vapor atomic absorption spectrometry, after direct aqueous NaBH 4 reduction in a three-component (microemulsion) medium, was investigated. Microemulsions were prepared by mixing gasoline with propan-1-ol and 50% v / v HNO 3 at a 20 : 15 : 1 volume ratio. A long-term homogeneous system was immediately formed this way. After reduction, the Hg vapor generated in a reaction flask was transported to an intermediate K 2Cr 2O 7/H 2SO 4 trap solution in order to avoid poisoning of the Au–Pt trap by the gasoline vapors. A second reduction step was then conducted and the generated Hg vapor transported to the Au–Pt trap, followed by thermal release of Hg 0 and atomic absorption measurement. Purified N 2 was used as purge and transport gas. After multivariate optimization by central composite design calibration graphs showed coefficients of correlation of 0.9999 and a characteristic mass of 2 ng was obtained. Typical coefficients of variation of 5% and 6% were found for ten consecutive measurements at concentration levels of 1 and 8 μg L −1 of Hg 2+, respectively. The limit of detection was 0.10 μg L −1 (0.14 μg kg −1) in the original sample. A total measurement cycle took 11 min, permitting duplicate analysis of 3 samples per hour. The results obtained with the proposed procedure in the analysis of commercial gasoline samples were in agreement with those obtained by a comparative procedure. Gasoline samples of the Rio de Janeiro city have shown Hg concentrations below 0.27 μg L −1.
Published Version
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