Atomic spectrometry update: review of advances in elemental speciation

Abstract

This is the 16th Atomic Spectrometry Update (ASU) to focus on advances in elemental speciation and covers a period of approximately 12 months from January 2023. This ASU review deals with all aspects of the analytical atomic spectrometry speciation methods developed for: the determination of oxidation states; organometallic compounds; coordination compounds; metal and heteroatom-containing biomolecules, including metalloproteins, proteins, peptides and amino acids; and the use of metal-tagging to facilitate detection via atomic spectrometry. As with all ASU reviews the focus of the research reviewed includes those methods that incorporate atomic spectrometry as the measurement technique. However, because speciation analysis is inherently focused on the relationship between the metal(loid) atom and the organic moiety it is bound to, or incorporated within, atomic spectrometry alone cannot be the sole analytical approach of interest. For this reason, molecular detection techniques are also included where they have provided a complementary approach to speciation analysis. The number of publications covered this year has increased since last year but remains relatively low compared to many of the years that this ASU has been published for. However, there is a good breadth of elements covered, over 20 this year, with the most popular elements still being As, Hg and Se whilst Ge and Tc both make their first appearances this year. Another item to note is the decreasing quality of the abstract for many of the papers, with detail on the methodology, key results with data included, conclusions and implications thereof missing. This is likely to lead to fewer researchers reading the article.