Analytical strategies for the detection of sulfide: a review

The detection of sulfide, particularly hydrogen sulfide, has long held the attention of the analytical community and, as such, a large number of protocols have arisen. Built around a core of reactions, some of which are highly specific to sulfide, there is considerable scope for exploitation across a number of instrumental platforms. Such flexibility may provide options for alleviating potentially intractable matrix effects through switching to an alternative detection methodology. This review details the need for sulfide measurements and describes the basis of many of the current approaches to sulfide detection. The collation of information from a broad range of sources, covering the major approaches, has been achieved and the salient points of each technique presented and critically appraised. The various peculiarities of the systems are compared and contrasted and a summary of the analytical characteristics (matrix, methodology and detection range) from each has been constructed.