Abstract
Species dependent studies of no-carrier-added (nca) mercury were carried out using radioanalytical technique coupled with two greener analytical methodologies. The adsorption of nca 195m,gHg and 197mHg radionuclides on chitosan biopolymer and cloud point extraction (CPE) was studied to develop environmentally sustainable speciation methodologies at ultra trace level. Species information was obtained by comparing the adsorption profile of nca radiomercury on chitosan biopolymer with the software code CHEAQS PRO. Results obtained from the adsorption study were validated by CPE technique using non ionic surfactant and mixed micelle. Both the experiments established that nca Hg existed as Hg(II). The experimental results support the presence of HgCl2 species over the pH range 2–4, whereas Hg(OH)2 is the main species over the pH range 6–8. Chitosan biopolymer and mixed micelle [Triton-X-114 and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB)] constitute an efficient reagent for the preconcentration of ultra trace level mercury.
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