Determination of sulfur in metal sulfides by bromine water-CCl4 oxidative dissolution and modified EDTA titration

The sulfur content in metal sulfides can be determined after oxidative dissolution with bromine water-CCl₄ at 50 °C by modified EDTA titration. The sulfides were quantitatively oxidized to SO₄ ^2– without evolving H₂S, and the metal cations were removed by cation exchange on an H-type column. Sulfate was precipitated as BaSO₄, and the remaining Ba²⁺ was subsequently titrated with EDTA at pH = 10. The standard deviation for the determined sulfur in the metal sulfides, some of which can be hardly dissolved in usual mineral acid media, is about a few %. The method can be carried out with sample amounts containing as little as 1.5–2 mg sulfur. Received: 31 July 1997 / Revised: 5 January 1998 / Accepted: 9 January 1998