Carmen Gal

Bio: Carmen Gal is an academic researcher from Technical University of Berlin. The author has contributed to research in topics: Extraction (chemistry) & Detection limit. The author has an hindex of 3, co-authored 4 publications receiving 1167 citations.

Re-Examination of the Cadmium Reduction Method and Optimisation of Conditions for the Determination of Nitrate by Flow Injection Analysis

Abstract: The present paper re-examines the widely used flow injection method for nitrate which is based on heterogeneous reduction of nitrate with copperized cadmium followed by spectrophotometric detection of nitrite formed. The thorough investigation presented here has shown that the reduction step is very critical as far as conversion rate, possible further reduction of nitrite and long-term stability of the reductor column is concerned. The reasons for inconsistent and irreproducible results mentioned in original papers and often obtained in routine applications could be traced back to the way the reductor material had been prepared, the chemical conditions under which reduction takes place (i.e. pH and concentration of complexing agents) and the poisoning of the cadmium surface by sample constituents. The concomitant reduction of dissolved oxygen has been identified as a potential problem causing loss of pH control (due to in-situ generation of hydroxide). De-oxygenation of the carrier solution was found to be a means to overcome this problem with the additional advantages of increasing the lifetime of the reductor column and significantly reducing the concentration of cadmium ions in the waste stream. The role of particle size and column dimension as well as sample residence time within the reductor column on reduction efficiency and sample dispersion has also been investigated.

Comparison of membrane assisted liquid–liquid microextraction devices applied to a series of volatile organic compounds in aqueous environmental matrices

Abstract: An extraction device has been investigated for the separation and preconcentration of a series of volatile organic compounds (CHCl3, CHCl2Br, CHClBr2 and CHBr3) in aqueous matrices. The device consisted of a microporous membrane system utilising a hollow fibre tube filled with organic solvent directly immersed into the sample solution. The hollow fibre containing 160 µL organic solvent was immersed in a glass vial with 10 mL capacity, and the extraction took place through diffusive transport between the aqueous sample and the small amount of solvent. For validation of the method, some operational conditions, such as extraction solvent, temperature, stirring rate and separation time, were optimised. Limit of detection was at low ppb levels, with GC-MS analysis under selected ion monitoring (SIM), whereas enrichment factors between 22 and 35 were obtained. Good reproducibility with RSDs between 7.2% and 9.8% and large linear dynamic ranges with R 2 between 0.996 and 0.998 were also achieved. In addition, th...

Application of flat polymer membrane microextraction for the continuous detection of trihalomethanes in aqueous matrices.

Abstract: A module was developed for the continuous monitoring of volatile halogen organic pollutants in complex matrices. The module utilized a polymer membrane for extraction and a capillary gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS) for detection. The extraction of analytes (CHCl3, CHCl2Br, CHClBr2 and CHBr3) from samples was performed in a flow system mediated by a non-porous flat membrane. The effects of the phase-volume ratios, flow conditions, kinetics, analyte properties and matrices were assessed and optimized. The limits of detection were at low mg L –1 to ng L –1 levels, with GC-MS analysis under selected ion monitoring (SIM), whereas enrichment factors between 6 and 30 were achieved. Precision values calculated as repeatability and reproducibility with a relative standard deviation (%RSD, n = 5) of 7.2 to 9.5 after 30 min were obtained. The performance of the continuous membrane assisted solvent extraction system was compared with classical liquid–liquid extraction. The method was applied to the extraction of trihalomethanes in chlorinated drinking-water samples.