Preconcentration of trace amounts of silver ion in aqueous samples on octadecyl silica membrane disks modified with hexathia-18-crown-6 and its determination by atomic absorption spectrometry

A simple and reliable method has been developed to selectively separate and concentrate trace amounts of silver ion from aqueous samples for the subsequent measurement by atomic absorption spectrometry. Ag⁺ ions are absorbed quantitatively during passage of aqueous samples through an octadecyl-bonded silica membrane disk modified by hexathia-18-crown-6. Almost all matrix elements will pass through the disk to drain. The retained Ag⁺ ions are then stripped from the disk with a minimal amount of thiosulfate solution as eluent. The proposed method permitted large enrichment factors of about 200 and higher. The limit of detection of the proposed method is 50 ng Ag⁺ per 1000 mL. The effects of various cationic interferences on the recovery of silver in binary mixtures were studied. The method was applied to the recovery of Ag⁺ ions from different synthetic and water samples. Received: 28 September 1999 / Revised: 2 December 1999 / Accepted: 8 December 1999