Interface of on line coupling capillary electrophoresis with hydride generation electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry and its application to arsenic speciation in sediment

Abstract

A novel interface for on line coupling capillary electrophoresis with hydride generation electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry (CE–HG–ETAAS) has been developed. The interface performance was examined in detail. The technique could be used to convert arsenic compounds from CE separation to corresponding volatile hydrides determined by HG–ETAAS. This paper aims to explore the best condition in the speciation analysis of inorganic arsenic by using CE–HG–ETAAS. The application of the developed CE–HG–ETAAS to inorganic arsenic speciation in sediment was investigated. The detection limits of As(III) and As(V) were 135ng/g and 160ng/g, respectively. Relative standard deviations of arsenic speciation were better than 2%. The recoveries of As(III) and As(V) in the sample with spiking concentration of 2500ng/g As(III) and 5000ng/g As(V) were 97.6% and 96.7%, respectively.