Abstract
An ion chromatographic method with a valve switching facility was developed to determine trace nitrate concentrations in seawater using two pumps, two different suppressors, and two columns. A carbohydrate membrane desalter was used to reduce the high concentrations of sodium salts in samples. In this method, trace nitrate was eluted from the concentrator column to the analytical columns, while the matrix fl owed to waste. Neither chemical pre-treatment nor sample dilution was required. In the optimized separation conditions, the method showed good linearity ( R >0.99) in the 0.05 and 50 mg/L concentration range, and satisfactory repeatability (RSD<5%, n =6). The limit of detection for nitrate was 0.02 mg/L. Results showed that the valve switching system was suitable and practical for the determination of trace nitrate in seawater.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bettinelli M, Spezia S. 1995. Determination of trace elements in sea water by ion chromatography-inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Journal of Chromatography A, 709(2): 275–281. http://dx.doi.org/0021-9673(95)00454-8.
Brudin S S, Shellie R A, Haddad P R et al. 2010. Comprehensive two-dimensional liquid chromatography: Ion chromatography× reversed-phase liquid chromatography for separation of low-molar-mass organic acids. Journal of Chromatography A, 1217(43): 6 742–6 746, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chrooma.2010.05.064.
Bruno P, Caselli M, De Gennaro G et al. 2003. Determination of nutrients in the presence of high chloride concentrations by column-switching ion chromatography. Journal of Chromatography A, 1003(1): 133–141. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0304-4203(03)00070-7.
Dahllöf I, Svensson O, Torstensson C. 1997. Optimising the determination of nitrate and phosphate in sea water with ion chromatography using experimental design. Journal of Chromatography A, 771(1): 163–168. http://dx.doi.org/S0021-9673(97)00198-2.
Finch M S, Hydes D J, Clayson C H et al. 1998. A low power ultra violet spectrophotometer for measurement of nitrate in seawater: introduction, calibration and initial sea trials. Analytica Chimica Acta, 377(2): 167–177, http://dx.doi.org/1007-1504(2006)04-0240-06.
Fukushi K, Yamazaki R, Yamane T. 2009. Determination of bromate in highly saline samples using CZE with on-line transient ITP. Journal of Separation Science, 32(3): 457–461, http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/jssc.200800502.
Geng X, Zhang S, Wang Q et al. 2008. Determination of organic acids in the presence of inorganic anions by ion chromatography with suppressed conductivity detection. Journal of Chromatography A, 1192(1): 187–190, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chroma.2008.03.073.
Gros N. 2013. Ion chromatographic analyses of sea waters, brines and related samples. Water, 5(2): 659–676, http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/w5020659.
Haddad P R, Nesterenko P N, Buchberger W. 2008. Recent developments and emerging directions in ion chromatography. Journal of Chromatography A, 1184(1): 456–473, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chroma.2007.10.022.
Haddad R P, McTaggart A R. 1991. On-column matrix elimination of high levels of chloride and sulfate in nonsuppressed ion chromatography. Journal of Chromatography A, 546: 221–228. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0021-9673(01)93020-1.
Helaleh M I, Korenaga T. 2000. Ion chromatographic method for simultaneous determination of nitrate and nitrite in human saliva. Journal of Chromatography B: Biomedical Sciences and Applications, 744(2): 433–437. http://dx.doi.org/S0378-4347(00)00264-4.
Huang Y, Mou S F, Liu K N et al. 2000. Simplifi ed columnswitching technology for the determination of traces of anions in the presence of high concentrations of other anions. Journal of Chromatography A, 884(1): 53–59. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0021-9673(00)00319-8.
Ito K, Takayama Y, Makabe N et al. 2005. Ion chromatography for determination of nitrite and nitrate in seawater using monolithic ODS columns. Journal of Chromatography A, 1083(1): 63–67, http://dx.doi.org/10.1061/j.chroma.2005.05.073.
Opiteck G J, Ramirez S M, Jorgenson J W et al. 1998. Comprehensive two-dimensional high-performance liquid chromatography for the isolation of overexpressed proteins and proteome mapping. Analytical Biochemistry, 258(2): 349–361. http://dx.doi.org/0003-2697/98$25.00.
Raessler M, Hilke I. 2006. Ion-Chromatographic determination of low concentrations of nitrate in solutions of high salinity. Microchimica Acta, 154(1-2): 27–29. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00604-006-0495-z.
Sastry K, Moudgal R, Mohan J et al. 2002. Spectrophotometric determination of serum nitrite and nitrate by coppercadmium alloy. Analytical Biochemistry, 306(1): 79–82, http://dx.doi.org/10.1006/abio.2002.5676.
Slingsby R, Pohl C. 1996. Approaches to sample preparation for ion chromatography sulfate precipitation on bariumform ion exchangers. Journal of Chromatography A, 739(1): 49–55. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0021-9673(96)00051-9.
Villasenor S R. 1991. Matrix elimination in liquid chromatography using heart-cut column switching techniques. Analytical Chemistry, 63(14): 1 362–1 366. http://dx.doi.org/0003-2700/91/0363-1362$02.50/0.
Walsh M E. 2001. Determination of nitroaromatic, nitramine, and nitrate ester explosives in soil by gas chromatography and an electron capture detector. Talanta, 54(3): 427–438. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0039-9140(00)00541-5.
Wang R, Wang N, Ye M et al. 2012. Determination of lowlevel anions in seawater by ion chromatography with cycling-column-switching. Journal of Chromatography A, 1265: 186–190, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chroma.2012.09.086.
Wang Y, Kong L, Lei X et al. 2009. Comprehensive twodimensional high-performance liquid chromatography system with immobilized liposome chromatography column and reversed-phase column for separation of complex traditional Chinese medicine Longdan Xiegan Decoction. Journal of Chromatography A, 1216(11): 2 185–2 191, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chroma.2008.05.074.
Wilson M B, Zhang C C, Gandhi J. 2011. Analysis of inorganic nitrogen and related anions in high salinity water using ion chromatography with tandem UV and conductivity detectors. Journal of Chromatographic Science, 49(8): 596–602.
Zhu Z. 2006. Summarization on investigation headway of determination nitrate and nitrite by spectrophotometry. Arid Environmental Monitoring, 20(4): 240–245, http://dx.doi.org/1007-1504(2006)04-0240-06.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Supported by the National Special Fund for Major Research Instrumentation Development (No. 2012YQ090229), the Instrument Functional Exploitation and Technical Innovation Fund, Chinese Academy of Sciences (No. yg2010072), and the Shandong Provincial Technology Development Plan Fund (Nos. 2011SJGZ06, 2012SJGZ12, 2012424012)
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Du, J., Fa, Y., Zheng, Y. et al. Measurement of trace nitrate concentrations in seawater by ion chromatography with valve switching. Chin. J. Ocean. Limnol. 32, 732–736 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00343-014-3191-6
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00343-014-3191-6