Selenium determination by HG-ICPAES: Elimination of iron interferences by means of an ion-exchange resin in a continuous flow system

Abstract

An accurate procedure for the elimination of iron interferences in the determination of selenium in geological materials by the Hydride Generation – Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrometry technique (HG-ICPAES) is proposed. A selective removal of iron is achieved by on-line incorporation of a microcolumn filled with strongly acidic cation exchange resin (Dowex 50W-X8). The microcolumn manifold used was interfaced with the hydride generation manifold by a flow injection sample injection valve. After the removal of the iron, a 500 μl sample was injected into a carrier stream of water. This was merged with hydrochloric acid and sodium tetrahydroborate in order to generate the corresponding selenium hydride. The system was found to have a limit of detection of 0.4 ng ml-1 and a relative standard deviation of 2% for 20 ng ml-1 selenium. The application of the method on different Geochemical Standard Reference Samples demonstrated that results were statistically indistinguishable from certified values.