Interface of on line coupling capillary electrophoresis with hydride generation electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry and its application to arsenic speciation in sediment

A novel interface for on line coupling capillary electrophoresis with hydride generation electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry (CE–HG–ETAAS) has been developed. The interface performance was examined in detail. The technique could be used to convert arsenic compounds from CE separation to corresponding volatile hydrides determined by HG–ETAAS. This paper aims to explore the best condition in the speciation analysis of inorganic arsenic by using CE–HG–ETAAS. The application of the developed CE–HG–ETAAS to inorganic arsenic speciation in sediment was investigated. The detection limits of As(III) and As(V) were 135 ng/g and 160 ng/g, respectively. Relative standard deviations of arsenic speciation were better than 2%. The recoveries of As(III) and As(V) in the sample with spiking concentration of 2500 ng/g As(III) and 5000 ng/g As(V) were 97.6% and 96.7%, respectively.