Separation and determination of tellurium(IV) and tellurium(VI) using reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography-inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry.

A new method for speciation analysis of tellurium(IV) and Te(VI) using high-performance liquid chromatography-inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (HPLC-ICP-MS) has been developed. Tellurium(IV) and Te(VI) were completely separated using a reversed-phase column with an L-cysteine eluent under an isocratic elution condition. The detection limits (3σ) of Te(IV) and Te(VI) monitored by HPLC-ICP-MS at m/z 125 were 1.4 and 0.5 ng g, respectively. The proposed determination method was precisely applied to assessing total concentrations and chemical species of Te in several standard solutions. The recovery rates of Te(IV) and Te(VI) were almost 100% from the results of the addition-recovery examinations, even when a high matrix sample such as seawater was measured. The method was applied to seawater samples and electronic products, and was proved quite effective for environmental risk assessment.