Flow analysis–hydride generation–Fourier transform infrared spectrometry. A new analytical technique for the simultaneous determination of antimony, arsenic and tin

Abstract

The combination of flow analysis (FA), hydride generation (HG) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometry is proposed as a novel and powerful analytical technique for the individual and simultaneous determination of antimony, arsenic and tin in aqueous samples. The analytes were transformed into the volatile hydride form by on-line reaction with sodium tetrahydroborate in acidic medium. The gaseous analyte hydrides [M_nH_{m (g)}] generated, were transported by means of a carrier gas stream inside the IR gas cell and the corresponding FTIR spectrum was acquired in a continuous mode. The 1893, 1904 and 2115 cm⁻¹ bands of the SbH₃, SnH₄, and AsH₃ were selected for the determination of antimony, tin and arsenic, respectively. The limit of detection (3σ) obtained by using a short-path (10 cm) IR gas cell were 0.25, 0.30 and 1.2 mg l⁻¹ for the determination of antimony, tin and arsenic, respectively; while the precision (relative standard deviation, RSD, n = 5) found from a standard solution containing 50 mg l⁻¹ of each element was, in all cases, less than 0.3%. However, the use of a long-path (7.25 m) IR gas cell improved the figures of merit (sensitivity, limits of detection and quantification) nearly 60-fold. The effect of the main experimental and instrumental variables, such as acidic media, sodium tetraborohydrate concentration, nitrogen flow rate, nominal resolution and the scan accumulation on the analytical signals of the antimony, tin and arsenic hydrides, were studied. Further, the potential of the proposed technique for the simultaneous determination of these elements was tested, analyzing synthetic samples containing different amounts of Sb, Sn and As.