Determination of Hg in water by CVAAS using 2-aminothiazole modified silica

Abstract

This paper discusses a rapid and sensitive method developed to determine trace levels ofmercury in natural water samples by cold vapor atomic absorption spectrometry using a preconcentrationsystem composed by mini-column packed with 100 mg of 2-aminothiazol modified silica gel (SiAT)coupled on-line with the spectrometer’s cold vapor generator system. The optimum preconcentrationconditions are also described here. The preconcentrated Hg(II) ions were eluted directly from the columnto the spectrometer’s cold vapor generator system using 100 μL of 2 mol L -1 hydrochloric acid and theretention efficiency achieved exceeded 95%. The enrichment factors determined were 29, 38 and 46using 3, 4 and 5 mL of preconcentrated aqueous solutions containing 400 ng L -1 of Hg. The detectionlimit calculated was 5 ng L -1 . The preconcentration procedure was applied to determine trace levelmercury in spiked river water samples.