Determination of chromium(III) and total chromium using dual channels on glass chip with chemiluminescence detection

A simple, rapid and sensitive method for the determination of chromium(III) and total chromium using the simple dual T channels on glass chip with negative pressure pumping system and chemiluminescence (CL) detection is presented. The CL reaction was based on luminol oxidation by hydrogen peroxide in basic aqueous solution catalyzed by chromium(III). Total chromium in form of chromium(III) was achieved after chromium(VI) was completely reduced by acidic sodium hydrogen sulfite. Total chromium could then be determined with the same strategy as the chromium(III). The CL reagent was composed of 1.0 × 10−4 mol/L luminol, 1.0 × 10−2 mol/L hydrogen peroxide and 0.10 mol/L sodium bromide in 0.050 mol/L carbonate buffer (pH 11.00). The 1.0 × 10−2 mol/L ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid was added into the sample solution in order to improve the selectivity. Chromium(III) could be detected at a notably concentration of 1.6 × 10−16 mol/L and a linear calibration curve was obtained from 1.0 × 10−15 to 1.0 × 10−13 mol/L. The sample and CL reagent consumption were only 15 and 20 μL, respectively. The analysis time was less than 1 min per sample with the precision (%R.S.D.) was 4.7%. The proposed method has been applied successfully to the analysis of river water, mineral waters, drinking waters and tap water. Its performance was verified by the analysis of certified total chromium-reference materials and by recovery measurement on spiked synthetic seawater sample.