CHEMICAL SPECIATION BY FLOW-INJECTION ANALYSIS - A REVIEW

Speciation of elements in natural matrices, especially of trace metals , is one of the predominant development trends of modern inorganic ana lysis. The main part of the conventional speciation procedures is a su itable combination of separation and chemical conversion steps, for wh ich the most appropriate methodology seems to be the use of flow-injec tion. A shorter time of performance of these operations in flow-inject ion manifolds is advantageous in terms of avoiding the shift of chemic al equilibria during the speciation measurement. Numerous other advant ages are also pointed out in this review based on 58 references. Among flow-injection analysis methods published so far for speciation the d etermination of different oxidation states predominates, while a much smaller number of papers have been published on the determination of t he degree of complexation or the determination of organometallic compo unds.