Determination of mercury in ethanol biofuel by photochemical vapor generation

A new procedure based on exposure of ethanol biofuel samples to UV radiation in the presence of low molecular weight organic acids was developed for the determination of total Hg (inorganic and organometallic species: Hg2+, CH3Hg+ and CH3CH2Hg+) by photochemical vapor generation coupled with atomic absorption spectrometry (photo-CV-AAS). For each species, the optimum conditions for photochemical generation were investigated, including the effects of medium composition, exposure time to the UV radiation and transfer gas flow rate. The accuracy was evaluated by assessing the recoveries of species-specific spikes (91-107%) as well as by assessing recovery from a mixture of all species of the mercury added to the ethanol biofuel samples based on calibration standards prepared in high purity bidistilled ethanol. The limits of detection ranged from 0.05 to 0.09 mu g L-1 for all addition and recovery tests, enabling the determination of total Hg. The proposed method is sensitive, simple (no sample pretreatment) and provides a direct approach to the generation of mercury vapor from ethanol biofuel samples while promoting green chemistry.