Reduction of Microliter Amounts of Water with Manganese for D/H Isotope Ratio Measurement by Mass Spectrometry

Abstract

Abstract For the measurement of deuterium content in natural waters, a rapid and precise analytical technique has been developed for the quantitative conversion of water to hydrogen with manganese as reducing agent. It was found that 8μl of water, 0.8 g of Mn, and a reaction time of 40 minutes at 520°C are the optimal conditions for the conversion reaction. Each sample is reduced individually in a high vacuum reaction vessel with a Teflon stopcock. A set of six samples can be prepared at one time. Analyses of standard water samples gave a reproducibility of ±1%(1[sgrave]).