Speciation analysis of inorganic arsenic in coal samples by microwave-assisted extraction and high performance liquid chromatography coupled to hydride generation atomic fluorescence spectrometry

A new method was developed for the speciation analysis of inorganic arsenic in coal samples by high performance liquid chromatography coupled to hydride generation atomic fluorescence spectrometry after microwave-assisted extraction. Effective extract of As(III) and As(V) in coal sample was achieved by 1.0 mol L-1H3PO4 and 0.1 mol L-1 ascorbic acid. Under the optimized conditions, the limits of detection (LOD) were 0.01 mu g L-1 and 0.02 mu g L-1, the relative standard deviations (RSD) were 2.4% and 3.3% (c=10.0 mu g L-1, n=7), recoveries were 102.5% and 96.5% for As(III) and As(V). The proposed method was successfully applied for the determination of speciation of inorganic arsenic in coal samples and GBW11117 coal standard reference material with complex matrix. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.