Analytical Sciences

Chromatographic Separation of Cd from Plants via Anion-Exchange Resin for an Isotope Determination by Multiple Collector ICP-MS

Rongfei WEI,* Qingjun GUO,* Hanjie WEN,** Marc PETERS,* Junxing YANG,* Liyan TIAN,* and Xiaokun HAN*

*Center for Environmental Remediation, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
**State Key Laboratory of Ore Deposit Geochemistry, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang 550002, China

In this study, key factors affecting the chromatographic separation of Cd from plants, such as the resin column, digestion and purification procedures, were experimentally investigated. A technique for separating Cd from plant samples based on single ion-exchange chromatography has been developed, which is suitable for the high-precision analysis of Cd isotopes by multiple-collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (MC-ICP-MS). The robustness of the technique was assessed by replicate analyses of Cd standard solutions and plant samples. The Cd yields of the whole separation process were higher than 95%, and the ^114/110Cd values of three Cd second standard solutions (Münster Cd, Spex Cd, Spex-1 Cd solutions) relative to the NIST SRM 3108 were measured accurately, which enabled the comparisons of Cd isotope results obtained in other laboratories. Hence, stable Cd isotope analyses represent a powerful tool for fingerprinting specific Cd sources and/or examining biogeochemical reactions in ecological and environmental systems.

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