Design and development of an automated flow injection instrument for the determination of arsenic species in natural waters

摘要

The design and development of an automated flow injection instrument for the determination of arsenite [As(III)] and arsenate [As(V)] in natural waters is described. The instrument incorporates solenoid activated self-priming micropumps and electronic switching valves for controlling the fluidics of the system and a miniature charge-coupled device spectrometer operating in a graphical programming environment. The limits of detection were found to be 0.79 and 0.98 μM for As(III) and As(V), respectively, with linear range of 1–50 μM. Spiked ultrapure water samples were analyzed and recoveries were found to be 97%–101% for As(III) and 95%–99% for As(V), respectively. Future directions in terms of automation, optimization, and field deployment are discussed.