ICP-AES Determination of Trace Rare Earth Elements in Environmental and Food Samples by On-line Separation and Preconcentration with Acetylacetone-modified Silica Gel Using Microcolumn

Abstract

A novel method of online microcolumn separation and preconcentration coupled to inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) with the use of acetylacetone-modified silica gel as packing material was developed for the determination of trace rare earth elements (REEs) in environmental and food samples. The main parameters affecting online separation/preconcentration, including pH, sample flow rate, sample volume, elution and interfering ions, have been investigated in detail. Under the optimized operating conditions, the adsorption capacity values for Sc, Y, La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb and Lu were 25.65, 23.23, 24.01, 19.40, 22.89, 23.77, 24.40, 23.96, 25.58, 25.15, 24.86, 22.75, 16.05, 24.13, 26.51 and 27.93 mg g -1 , respectively. Detection limits (3σ) based on three times standard deviations of the blanks by 8 replicates were in the range from 48 pg mL -1 for Lu to 1003 pg mL -1 for Sm. With 90 s preconcentration time and 10 s elution time, the enrichment factor was 10 and the sample frequency was 28 h -1 . The precisions (RSDs) obtained by determination of a 250 ng mL -1 (n = 8) REEs standard solution were in the range from 1.7% for Y to 4.4% for Sm. The proposed method was successfully applied to the determination of trace REEs in pig liver, agaric and mushroom. To validate the proposed method, we analyzed three certified reference materials (GBW07401 soil, GBW07301a sediment, and GBW07605 tea leaves). The determined values were in a good agreement with the certified values. The method is rapid, selective, sensitive and applicable to the determination of trace REEs in biological and environmental samples with complicated matrix effects.

Distribution, Elimination, and Renal Effects of Single Oral Doses of Europium in Rats

“…As described in a previous study by our group [17] and in other publications [1,2,[18][19][20], ICP-AES has been widely used for the determination of trace element concentrations, including REEs in a variety of samples [21][22][23].…”

Preparation, characterization and application of Saussurea tridactyla Sch-Bip as green adsorbents for preconcentration of rare earth elements in environmental water samples

“…After elution with 0.5 mol L −1 HNO 3 , the adsorption capacity values for Y, La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb and Lu were 62.2, 130, 101, 104, Table 6 Analytical results of REEs in environmental water samples (μ = mean ± uσ, n = 3, P = 95%, ng mL −1 ). [13,20,22,[44][45][46], the adsorption capacity of STSB for each REE is obviously higher. Under the optimized condition, the adsorption and desorption of target REEs on STSB adsorbent pretreated with 2 mol L −1 NaOH were processed repeatedly and continuously, and the stability of the adsorbent was examined by monitoring the recovery of REEs.…”

“…It is well-known that SPE materials decide the sensitivity and selectivity of the SPE-based method. And a great deal of new SPE adsorbents have been explored for the preconcentration of REEs, including chelating resin [19], 2,6-diacetylpyridine functionalized Amberlite XAD-4 [20], graphene oxide-TiO 2 composite [21], acetylacetone-modified silica gel [22], oxidized multiwalled carbon nanotubes [23], polystyrene grafted with diethylene-triaminetetraacetic groups [24] etc. Besides, biomaterials have attained special interest due to their attractive features, such as easy-to-get, low cost, high efficiency, mild operation condition and ecologically-safe [25][26][27].…”

Surface Sensitive Techniques for Advanced Characterization of Luminescent Materials

“…These methods include inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS) [12], inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES) [13], isotope dilution mass spectrometry [14], resonance light scattering (RLS) [15], voltammetry [16], capillary electrophoresis [17], X-ray fluorescence (XRF) [18], fluorimetry [19], ion-microprobe [20] and other methodologies [21]. …”