Analytical strategies for the detection of sulfide: a review

The detection of sulfide, particularly hydrogen sulfide, has long held the attention of the analytical community and, as such, a large number of proto cols have arisen. Built around a core of reactions, some of which are highl y specific to sulfide, there is considerable scope for exploitation across a number of instrumental platforms. Such flexibility may provide options fo r alleviating Potentially intractable matrix effects through switching to a n alternative detection methodology. This review details the need for sulfi de measurements and describes the basis of many of the current approaches t o sulfide detection. The collation of information from a broad range of sou rces, covering the major approaches, has been achieved and the salient poin ts of each technique presented and critically appraised. The various peculi arities of the systems are compared and contrasted and a summary of the ana lytical characteristics (matrix, methodology and detection range) from each has been constructed. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.