A set of 20 commercially available nanodiamond samples of eight manufacturers of various countries, which are
most frequently used in basic and applied studies, was analyzed for the concentration of Hg. Conditions of mercury
determination by flameless atomic absorption spectroscopywith thermal sample decomposition (pyrolysis)
at 800 °C were proposed and confirmed bywavelength-dispersive X-ray fluorescence analysis. It was found that
nanodiamonds have a significant diversity of amounts of mercury, from 20 μg/kg to higher than 0.7 g/kg. Thus,
the need to control Hg impurity in nanodiamonds, especially for biological and medical research, was demonstrated.
The precision of flameless pyrolysis atomic absorption determination of mercury in nanodiamonds is
discussed.