Development of a miniature dielectric barrier discharge–optical emission spectrometric system for bromide and bromate screening in environmental water samples

• Dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) is for the first time used as a radiation source for the excitation of bromine and its emission.
• A DBD–optical emission spectrometric (OES) system was developed for the detection of bromide and bromate.
• The DBD–OES system has been demonstrated by screening trace bromide and bromate in a series of environmental water samples.

Dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) at atmospheric pressure provides an efficient radiation source for the excitation of bromine and it is used for the first time for optical emission spectrometric (OES) detection of bromide and bromate. A portable DBD–OES system is developed for screening potential pollution from bromide and bromate in environmental waters. Bromide is on-line oxidized to bromine for in-situ generation of volatile bromine. Meanwhile, a helium stream carries bromine into the DBD micro-plasma for its excitation at a discharging voltage of 3.7 kV and optical emission spectrometric detection with a QE65000 charge-coupled device (CCD) spectrometer in the near-infrared spectral region. Similarly, the quantification of bromate is performed by its pre-reduction into bromide and then oxidized to bromine. The spectral characteristics and configuration of the DBD micro-plasma excitation source in addition to the oxidation vapor generation of bromine have been thoroughly investigated. With a sampling volume of 1 mL, a linear range of 0.05–10.0 mg L−1 is obtained with a detection limit of 0.014 mg L−1 by measuring the emission at 827 nm. A precision of 2.3% is achieved at 3 mg L−1 bromide. The system is validated by bromine detection in certified reference material of laver (GBW10023) at mg L−1 level, giving rise to satisfactory agreement. In addition, it is further demonstrated by screening trace bromide and bromate as well as spiking recoveries in a series of environmental water samples.

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