Preconcentration and speciation of ultra-trace Se (IV) and Se (VI) in environmental water samples with nano-sized TiO2 colloid and determination by HG-AFS

A united method for speciation analysis of Se (IV) and Se (VI) in environmental water samples was developed using nano-sized TiO2 colloid as adsorbent and hydride generation atomic fluorescence spectrometry (HG-AFS) as determination means. When the pH values of bulk solution were between 6.0 and 7.0, successful adsorption onto 1 mL nano-sized TiO2 colloid (0.2%) was achieved for more than 97.0% of Se (IV) while Se (VI) barely got adsorbed. Therefore, the method made it possible to preconcentrate and determine Se (IV) and Se (VI) separately. The precipitated TiO2 with concentrated selenium was directly converted to colloid without desorption. Selenium in the resulting colloid was then determined by HG-AFS. The detection limits (3σ) and relative standard deviations (R.S.D) of this method were 24 ng/L and 42 ng/L, 7.8% (n = 6) and 7.0% (n = 6) for Se (IV) and Se (VI), respectively. This simple, sensitive, and united method was successfully applied to the separation and speciation of ultra-trace Se (IV) and Se (VI) in environmental water samples.

► A new method for speciation of Se in environmental water samples was developed.
► Se (IV) and Se (VI) were determined respectively due to difference adsorption affinity.
► Low detection limit and satisfactory recovery rate were obtained for water samples.