Carrier-Gas free arc igniter microplasma optical emission spectrometry for the determination of arsenic in soil.

[Display omitted] A low-power-driven and carrier-gas free arc igniter microplasma optical emission spectrometry (AIM-OES) was coupled with hydride generation (HG) to detect arsenic in soils, only utilizing by-product H 2 produced therein as a working gas. • A low-power-driven arc igniter microplasma optical emission spectrometry (AIM-OES) was fabricated for determining arsenic in soils. • The by-product, H 2 , formed by hydride generation (HG) process acted as the sole working gas for the construction of a miniaturized, carrier-gas free device. • The discharges in air and Ar, with and without hydrogen content (from the HG step) were systematically studied. Rapid on-site assessment of arsenic contamination in soils is crucial for environmental protection and human health. In order to build an effective and affordable device for the determination of arsenic, the use of carrier gas supplies and high power energy consumption largely limit the miniaturization of microplasma-based optical emission spectrometry (OES). An arc igniter microplasma (AIM) can be powered by a low DC power supply and operated in the atmosphere of air without gas infusion, which is beneficial to construct a carrier-gas free and low power supply setup. Hydride generation (HG) can improve sample transport efficiency and reduce matrix effects, but the generated by-product hydrogen has not been explored as a sole working gas for plasma excitation. In this work, a hydride generation arc igniter microplasma optical emission spectrometer (HG-AIM-OES) was fabricated for detecting arsenic in soils. H 2 derived from HG was served as a working gas to transport AsH 3 to excite, eliminating the use of a carrier gas unit. Under the optimized operating conditions, the limit of detection (LOD) for arsenic was 164 μg/L (the analytical line at 234.98 nm), and good linearity of the method was achieved in the range of 0.5–20 mg/L with a precision of 3.14 % (the concentration of arsenic at 1 mg/L). In addition, the influence of H 2 on AIM physical properties was carefully studied in the air and Ar discharge atmospheres. The accuracy of the proposed device was validated by the analysis of certified reference materials (CRMs) and a real soil sample, resulting in good agreement with the obtained results by air and Ar as working gas. This HG-AIM-OES system provides a miniaturized, carrier gas-free and low power consuming tool for monitoring and assessment of arsenic-contaminated soils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]