An effective analytical system based on a pulsed direct current microplasma source for ultra-trace mercury determination using gold amalgamation cold vapor atomic emission spectrometry

• A novel system based on a low power pulsed dc microplasma for mercury detection.
• A small home-built pulsed dc power supply was used to ignite the microplasma.
• A gold filament preconcentrator followed by thermal desorption was used.
• A detection limit of 0.08 pg mL− 1 was achieved for sensitive mercury detection.
• The system is compact, low power, and has potential for field portable application.

A novel analysis system based on a low power atmospheric pressure pulsed direct current (Pdc) microplasma is described for the determination of ultra-trace mercury in natural water by cold vapor generation atomic emission spectrometry (CV-AES). The plasma was generated with a miniaturized home-built high-voltage Pdc power supply which decreased the volume and weight of the whole experiment setup. The CV-Pdc-AES system is based on the preconcentration of mercury vapor on a gold filament trapping micro-column prior to detection that provides fast, reproducible absorption and desorption of mercury. The micro-column is produced by winding 30 μm diameter 100 m long gold filament to a small ball and then insert it into a quartz tube of 6 mm i.d, 8 mm o.d. Under the optimized experimental conditions, the new system provides high sensitivity (detection limit: 0.08 pg mL− 1) and good reproducibility (RSD 3.0%, [Hg] = 20 pg mL− 1, n = 11). The calibration curve is linear at levels near the detection limit up to at least 200 pg mL− 1 and the accuracy is on the order of 1–4%. The proposed method was applied to 5 real water samples for mercury ultra-trace analysis. The advantages and features of the newly developed system include high sensitivity, simple structure, low cost, and compact volume with field portable potential.