Analyte Enrichment Using Sequential-Injection Analysis

Sequential-injection analysis (SIA) was developed as part of the drive to develop methods of automated analysis suitable for robust process analysis. As such, it was envisaged that SIA should provide a means of sample manipulation for the automation of wet chemical procedures in the process environment. Of particular note, SIA was seen to offer the possibility of carrying out complex sample manipulation in a simple manifold. This paper demonstrates how the unit operation of trace enrichment is conveniently accommodated in a sequential-injection manifold. As test case, the familiar pre-concentration of copper using sodium diethyldithiocarbamate on a polymeric support is described.