CHEMICAL GENERATION OF CHLORINE, BROMINE, AND IODINE FOR SAMPLE INTRODUCTION INTO A SURFATRON-GENERATED ARGON MICROWAVE-INDUCED PLASMA

A new analytical method that combines on-line gas generation and MIP-Surfatron for sample introduction and analysis is reported. Chlorine, bromine, and iodine are generated continually from aqueous solutions by using a lead(IV) oxide minicolumn connected to the plasma excitation source via a gas-liquid separator. This permits introduction of the vaporized sample directly into the plasma by using the support gas flow as analyte carrier gas. The influence of the plasma parameters was studied in order to optimize the experimental conditions. The emission from the analytes was monitored on the following spectral lines: Cl(I) 837.595, Br(I) 827.244, and l(I) 804.374 nm. The detection limits for the generated Cl2, Br2, and I2 were 50 ng/mL Cl, 50 ng/mL Br, and 200 ng/mL I, respectively (aqueous solution). The method features a linear range of over 2 orders of magnitude. A series of distilled water samples spiked with different amounts of halides were analyzed in order to test the applicability of the method.