Selenium in Photochemical Vapor Generation: Mechanism Study and Potential Nonchromatographic Speciation Analysis

The mechanism of selenium in the UV photochemical vapor generation (PVG) process was investigated by the use of multiple analytical methods. It was found that the UV-induced photooxidation trapping of the generated volatile SeH₂ should be responsible for the previous opinion of relative inertness of Se(VI) in PVG with formic acid. Furthermore, the formation of Se(IV) was found during the PVG process, and the comproportionation of Se(IV) with SeH₂ and the photooxidation of Se(IV) into Se(VI) were investigated. Then, a preliminary model was proposed for the PVG process of Se(VI) and Se(IV) with low-molecular-weight organic acids. Then, a novel, simple, and green photocontrolled method without any photocatalyst was thus proposed for the nonchromatographic speciation analysis of Se(IV) and Se(VI), with a limit of detection of 0.2 and 5 ng/mL, respectively.