Separation and determination of tellurium(IV) and tellurium(VI) using reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography-inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

A new method for speciation analysis of tellurium(IV) and Te(VI) using high-performance liquid chromatography-inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (HPLC-ICP-MS) has been developed. Tellurium(IV) and Te(VI) were completely separated using a reversed-phase column with an L-cysteine eluent under an isocratic elution condition. The detection limits (3 sigma) of Te(IV) and Te(VI) monitored by HPLC-ICP-MS at m/z 125 were 1.4 and 0.5 ng g-1, respectively. The proposed determination method was precisely applied to assessing total concentrations and chemical species of Te in several standard solutions. The recovery rates of Te(IV) and Te(VI) were almost 100% from the results of the addition-recovery examinations, even when a high matrix sample such as seawater was measured. The method was applied to seawater samples and electronic products, and was proved quite effective for environmental risk assessment.