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This work presents a simple and innovative protocol employing a microfluidic paper-based analytical device (µPAD) for equipment-free determination of mercury. In this method, mercury (II) forms an ionic-association complex of tetraiodomercurate (II) ion (HgI42−(aq)) using a known excess amount of iodide. The residual iodide flows by capillary action into a second region of the paper where it is converted to iodine by pre-deposited iodate to liberate I2(g) under acidic condition. Iodine vapor diffuses across the spacer region of the µPAD to form a purple colored of tri-iodide starch complex in a detection zone located in a separate layer of the µPAD. The digital image of the complex is analyzed using ImageJ software. The method has a linear calibration range of 50–350 mg L−1 Hg with the detection limit of 20 mg L−1. The method was successfully applied to the determination of mercury in contaminated soil and water samples which the results agreed well with the ICP-MS method. Three soil samples were highly contaminated with mercury above the acceptable WHO limits (0.05 mg kg−1). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first colorimetric µPAD method that is applicable for soil samples including mercury contaminated soils from gold mining areas.

This work reports the preparation and utility of cysteine-functionalized carbon-coated Fe3O4 materials (Cys-C@Fe3O4) as efficient sorbents for remediation of Hg(II)-contaminated water. Efficient removal (90%) of Hg(II) from 1000 ppb aqueous solutions is possible, at very low Cys-C@Fe3O4 sorbent loadings (0.01 g sorbent per liter of Hg(II) solution). At low metal concentrations (5–100 ppb Hg(II)), where adsorption is typically slow, Hg(II) removal efficiencies of 94–99.4% were achievable, resulting in final Hg(II) levels of 3O4 is 94.33 mg g−1, around three times that of carbon-coated Fe3O4 material. The highest partition coefficient (PC) of 2312.5 mgg−1µM−1 was achieved at the initial Hg (II) concentration of 100 ppb, while significantly high PC values of 300 mgg−1µM−1 and above were also obtained in the ultralow concentration range (≤20 ppb). Cys-C@Fe3O4 exhibits excellent selectivity for Hg(II) when tested in the presence of Pb(II), Ni(II), and Cu(II) ions, is easily separable from aqueous media by application of an external magnet, and can be regenerated for three subsequent uses without compromising Hg(II) uptake. Derived from commercially available raw materials, it is highly possible to achieve large-scale production of the functional sorbent for practical applications.

This work presents a new dual-purpose detector for photometric and conductivity measurements in flow-based analysis. The photometric detector is a paired emitter–detector diode (PEDD) device, whilst the conductivity detection employs a capacitively coupled contactless conductivity detector (C4D). The flow-through detection cell is a rectangular acrylic block (ca. 2 × 2 × 1.5 cm) with cylindrical channels in Z-configuration. For the PEDD detector, the LED light source and detector are installed inside the acrylic block. The two electrodes of the C4D are silver conducting ink painted on the PEEK inlet and outlet tubing of the Z-flow cell. The dual-purpose detector is coupled with a sequential injection analysis (SIA) system for simultaneous detection of the absorbance of the orange dye and conductivity of the dissolved oral rehydration salt powder. The detector was also used for sequential measurements of creatinine and the conductivity of human urine samples. The creatinine analysis is based on colorimetric detection of the Jaffé reaction using the PEDD detector, and the conductivity of the urine, as measured by the C4D detector, is expressed in millisiemens (mS cm−1).

This study presents a simple flow-based system for the determination of the preservative agent sulfite in food and beverages. The standard method of conversion of sulfite ions into SO2 gas by acidification is employed to separate the sulfite from sample matrices. The sample is aspirated into a donor stream of sulfuric acid. A membrane gas–liquid separation unit, also called a ‘gas-diffusion (GD)’ unit, incorporating a polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) hydrophobic membrane allows the generated gas to diffuse into a stream of deionized water in the acceptor line. The dissolution of the SO2 gas leads to a change in the conductivity of water which is monitored by an in-line capacitively coupled contactless conductivity detector (C4D). The conductivity change is proportional to the concentration of sulfite in the sample. In this work, both clear (wine) and turbid (fruit juice and extracts of dried fruit) were selected to demonstrate the versatility of the developed method. The method can tolerate turbidity up to 60 Nephelometric Turbidity Units (NTUs). The linear range is 5–25 mg L−1 SO32− with precision