Immobilized alga as a reagent for preconcentration in trace element atomic absorption spectrometry

Abstract

The alga Selenestrum capricornutum was covalently immobilized on controlled pore glass and packed in a minicolumn, which was incorporated into a flow injection system for the preconcentration of trace elements prior to determination by atomic absorption spectrometry. Samples (5 ml) of Cu²⁺, Pb²⁺, Zn²⁺, Co²⁺, Hg²⁺ and Cd²⁺ were preconcentrated to give detection limits of 0.05, 2.5, 0.2, 8.0, 30.0 and 2.0 ng ml^–1, respectively, with a sampling rate of 20 h^–1.