Comparison of chloride- and hydride-generation for quantitation of germanium by headspace solid-phase microextraction–inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry

Abstract

Chloride- and hydride-generation headspace solid-phase microextraction (SPME) techniques have been compared for the detection of trace amounts of germanium by inductively coupled plasma time-of-flight mass spectrometry (ICP-TOFMS). The conditions for generation of germanium chloride, including acid type and concentration, effect of sodium chloride and extraction time, were investigated. Detection limits of 20 and 92 pg mL(-1) and precisions of 18% (n=11) and 9.7% (n=11) were achieved for chloride and hydride generation, respectively, at a concentration of 10 ng mL(-1). The generated germanium chloride and hydride species identities were characterized and confirmed as GeCl(4) and GeH(4) by use of electron-impact ionization mass spectrometry. Chloride generation coupled with SPME sampling and ICP-TOFMS detection resulted in twofold enhancement of sensitivity compared to GeH(4)and detection limits for continuous hydride generation were 20-fold better than reported atomic fluorescence data.

High-efficiency photooxidation vapor generation of osmium for determination by inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry

“…Chemical vapor generation (CVG) is a widely used sample introduction method for trace element determination due to its high transport efficiency, effective matrix separation, simple operation and low-cost. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] Several approaches are available in traditional CVG, including hydride generation (HG), 10,11 cold vapor generation, 12,13 alkylation, 14 oxidation, 15,16 halide generation, 17 and metal-carbonyl generation, 18 etc. These CVG techniques offer the advantage of high sensitivity, ease of implementation, and short analysis time.…”

Cold vapor-solid phase microextraction using amalgamation in different Pd-based substrates combined with direct thermal desorption in a modified absorption cell for the determination of Hg by atomic absorption spectrometry

“…Different procedures have been developed for the determination of organometallic and inorganic compounds of tin, mercury, selenium, arsenic, lead, manganese and other metals [20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31]. Mercury is one of the most toxic elements impacting on human and ecosystem health and therefore is one of the most studied environmental pollutants.…”

Application of chemical vapor generation in ICP-MS: A review

“…For As, Ge, Sb, Se and Sn determination, halide generation is an alternative to HG. Sturgeon and co-workers [75] compared chloride-and hydride-generation for the quantitation of Ge by HG SPME-ICP-TOF-MS detection. In addition to high selectivity, chloride generation provided two fold enhancement of sensitivity compared to HG.…”