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DNA binding in combination with capillary electrophoresis and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry for the rapid speciation analysis of mercury
Author(s) -
Chen Yiquan,
Chen Lian,
Wang Xusheng,
Xi Zhiming,
Wu Yongning,
Fu FengFu
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
separation science plus
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2573-1815
DOI - 10.1002/sscp.201700015
Subject(s) - capillary electrophoresis , chemistry , inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry , mass spectrometry , chromatography , detection limit , mercury (programming language) , analytical chemistry (journal) , inductively coupled plasma , capillary electrophoresis–mass spectrometry , electrophoresis , plasma , electrospray ionization , physics , quantum mechanics , computer science , programming language
We herein developed a method for the rapid speciation analysis of Hg 2+ and CH 3 Hg + by using specific DNA sequences to bind Hg 2+ and CH 3 Hg + together with capillary electrophoresis and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The specific DNA sequences can combine with Hg 2+ and CH 3 Hg + with different binding force, which makes the formed DNA‐Hg 2+ and DNA‐CH 3 Hg + conjugates possess different negative charges, and thus make Hg 2+ and CH 3 Hg + can be more easily and rapidly separated by capillary electrophoresis under reverse mode. Under the optimal conditions, the Hg 2+ and CH 3 Hg + can be baseline separated and detected by capillary electrophoresis‐inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry within 11 min with a detection limit of 0.12 and 0.10 ng/mL, respectively. With the help of the method, we have successfully determined Hg 2+ and CH 3 Hg + in dried fish muscle samples with a recovery of 95–101% and a relative standard deviation ( n = 6) <5%. In comparison with previous capillary electrophoresis and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry methods, the proposed method has shorter separation time and higher sensitivity under the same conditions of inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Higher sensitivity and shorter separation time make our method a valuable technique to the speciation analysis of trace Hg 2+ and CH 3 Hg + in the environmental and food samples.