Determination of V(V), Nb(V) and Ta(V) as their 2-(5-bromo-2-pyridylazo)-5-diethylaminophenol chelates by reversed-phase HPLC

This paper reports the separation and determination of V(V), Nb(V) and Ta(V) by RP-HPLC using 5-Br-PADAP as a precolumn derivatizing reagent. On C(18) column, the three metal chelates can be separated on a baseline in 9 min with the mobile phase of methanol-water (59:41, v/v) containing tartaric acid (0.2%) and acetate buffer (pH 3.5, 10 mM). The detection limits of V(V), Nb(V) and Ta(V) are 0.13 ppb, 0.22 ppb and 1.79 ppb, respectively when S/N is 3. This method is simple and rapid, and has been used in mineral analysis with satisfactory results.