Copper Speciation for Natural Water by On-site Sample Treatment/Solid-phase Extraction/Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry

• Published in: Analytical Sciences Vol. 34; no. 6; pp. 725 - 728
• Main Authors: YABUTANI, Tomoki, KISHIBE, Shingo, KAMIMURA, Miki, NOZOE, Kosuke, YAMADA, Yohei, TAKAYANAGI, Toshio
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Singapore The Japan Society for Analytical Chemistry 2018; Springer Nature Singapore; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: Acetic acid; Analytical Chemistry; Ascorbic acid; Chemical analysis; Chemistry; Conditioning; Copper; Emission spectroscopy; Estuaries; Estuarine environments; Ethanol; Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acids; Hydrophobicity; ICP-MS; Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry; Ions; Masking; Mass spectrometry; Mass spectroscopy; Preconditioning; redox speciation; Scientific imaging; Seawater; Solid phases; Speciation; Species; Syringes; Water analysis; redox speciation; ICP-MS; Copper; seawater
• ISSN: 0910-6340; 1348-2246; 1348-2246
• DOI: 10.2116/analsci.18SBP08

Herein, we determined the contents of Cu(I), Cu(II), and hydrophobic Cu in natural water using on-site sample treatment, solid-phase extraction (SPE), and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) analysis. To prevent Cu species changes in the sampling, filtering and preconditioning steps were performed in a closed system using plastic syringes and a disposable membrane filter. Bathocuproin disulfonate (BCS) and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) were selected as a Cu(I)-selective complexing agent and a Cu(II) masking agent, respectively, whereas ascorbic acid (AA) was used to reduce Cu(II) to Cu(I). Pre-conditioned samples were passed through a hydrophobic SPE column, and the retained Cu species were eluted with ethanol. Subsequently, the eluate was concentrated, and the residue was re-dissolved in 2 M HNO3 and subjected to ICP-MS analysis. No artificial changes of Cu(I) and Cu(II) species were observed at any time, with the analytical detection limit of total Cu and the blank value equaling 0.0008 and 0.0025 μg kg−1, respectively. The developed method was applied to real estuarine, riverine, and seawater samples collected in Tokushima prefecture, Japan.