Recent advances in ultra-trace determination of uranium in natural water using total reflection X-ray fluorescence (TXRF) spectrometry

This review article describes some of the recent advances in ultra-trace determination of uranium in various natural water bodies such as drinking water, underground water, seawater, etc. using total reflection x-ray florescence (TXRF) spectrometry. Uranium is one of the most hazardous element having chemical as well as radio-toxicity. However, due to its low concentration in water samples, direct determination is seldom possible in samples with high salt content. Various sample preconcentration and selective extraction techniques for uranium such as solvent extraction, dispersive liquid-liquid micro extraction, solid phase extraction, and membrane based preconcentration methods are summarized in this article. TXRF is a very versatile micro-analytical technique with detection limits in picogram range and having multielemental analysis capability. TXRF determination of uranium using U L & alpha; as the analytical line has many analytical challenges and difficulties, mainly due to the severe interference with Rb and Br, both are commonly available in natural water samples. This article highlights some of these challenges, along with the advantages and disadvantages of the different sample preparation techniques used so far for uranium determination in natural water samples by TXRF.