Spectrophotometric determination of dissolved tri n-butyl phosphate in aqueous streams of Purex process

A spectrophotometric method is developed for the determination of dissolved tri-n butyl phosphate (TBP) in aqueous streams of Purex process used in nuclear fuel reprocessing. The method is based on the formation of phosphomolybdate with added ammonium molybdate followed by reduction with hydrazine sulphate in acid medium. Orthophosphate and molybdate ions combine in acidic solution to give molybdophosphoric (phosphomolybdic) acid, which upon selective reduction (with hydrazinium sulphate) produces a blue colour, due to molybdenum blue. The intensity of blue colour is proportional to the amount of phosphate. If the acidity at the time of reduction is 0.5?M in sulphuric acid and hydrazinium sulphate is the reductant, the resulting blue complex exhibits maximum absorption at 810?C840?nm. The system obeys Lambert?CBeer??s law at 830?nm in the concentration range of 0.1?C1.0???g/ml of phosphate. Molar Absorptivity was determined to be 3.1?×?10^4?L?mol^?1?cm^?1 at 830?nm. The results obtained are reproducible with standard deviation of 1?% and relative error less than 2?% and are in good agreement with those obtained by ion chromatographic technique.     

A pre-concentration procedure using coprecipitation for determination of lead and iron in several samples using flame atomic absorption spectrometry

The present paper proposes a pre-concentration procedure for determination of lead and iron in several samples by flame atomic absorption spectrometry. In it, lead(II) and iron(III) ions are coprecipitated using the violuric acid-copper(II) system as collector. Afterwards, the precipitate is dissolved with 1 M HNO₃ solution and the metal ions are determined. The optimization step was performed using factorial design involving the variables: pH, violuric acid mass (VA) and copper concentration (Cu).Using the optimized experimental conditions, the proposed procedure allows the determination these metals with detection limits of 0.18 μg L⁻¹ for iron and 0.16 μg L⁻¹ for lead. The effects of foreign ions on the pre-concentration procedure were also evaluated and the results demonstrated that this method could be applied for determination of iron and lead in several real samples. The proposed method was successfully applied to the analysis of seawater, urine, mineral water, soil and physiological solution samples. The concentrations of lead and iron achieved in these samples agree well with others data reported in the literature.     

Spectrophotometric Determination of Copper(II) as the Azide Complexes,in the Presence of Iron(III) Cations

Abstract

A method for the spectrophotometrio determination of copper(II), in the presence of iron(III) cations (excess), was stablished. The masking of iron is made with sodium fluoride salt in 50 % (v/v) water/acetone medium. In the recommended conditions, absorbances for cupric complexes are measured at 435 nm where molar absorptivity is 6.00 × 10³ 1 mol^?1 cm^?1.

The stable ayetern obeys Beer's law and is suitable for the copper determination in concentration range from 2.0 to 9.0 mg 1^?l. The iron(III) ion interference (until ca. 600 mg 1^?l) can be completely suppressed. The influence of diverse ions and several others factore were studied.

The results show that copper(II) can be accurately determined by azide apectrophotometric method, if the samples were suitablely treated by the recommended procedure.     

Dissolved iron analysis in estuarine and coastal waters by using a modified adsorptive stripping chronopotentiometric (SCP) method

An electrochemical method based on adsorptive stripping chronopotentiometry (SCP) with a rotating mercury film electrode has been developed for the determination of dissolved iron (III) at subnanomolar concentrations in estuarine and coastal waters. The detection limit was 0.11 nM after adsorption time of 60 s. Compared to the other chronopotentiometric methods available for dissolved iron measurement in natural and estuarine waters, the procedure described here exhibits a 15-fold better sensitivity. Therefore, it allows one to accurately quantify concentrations commonly found in estuarine and coastal waters. Moreover, by using the speciation scheme proposed by Aldrich and van den Berg (Electroanalysis 10 (1998) 369), several forms could be measured, i.e. reactive iron (Fe R) and reactive iron (III) (Fe^III R), or estimated, i.e. complexed iron (Fe C) and reactive iron (II) (Fe^II R). The method described here is reliable, fast, inexpensive and compact. It was applied successfully to the study of the chemical speciation of dissolved iron along the salinity gradient of the Aulne estuary (Brittany-France).     

Kinetic Analysis Applied to Iron in a Natural Water Model Containing Ions,Organic Complexes,Colloids, and Particles

Abstract

Kinetic analysis using complex formation reactions is applied to “mixtures” containing (variously), Fe³⁺, Fe²⁺, iron complexed to a fulvic acid, hydrous oxide colloids, and non-settleable particulate iron. Such mixtures can be directly resolved if the kinetics of complex formation reactions are pseudo first order and differences among rate constants are large enough. At pH = 4, it is found that fulvic acid causes substantial reduction of Fe³⁺ to Fe²⁺ and that it causes complete dissolution and depolymerization of colloidal and particulate iron at 1:1 ratio. Addition of one equivalent of phosphate causes precipitation of ferric phosphate even in the presence of fulvic acid. This system is very useful for modeling natural water because the kinetic technique allows convenient analysis of components of varying particle size. The present results are strongly indicative of the role of fulvic acid in mediating metal ion chemistry in natural water.     

Interaction of Phosphate with Iron(III) in Acidic Medium,Equilibrium and Kinetic Studies

Equilibrium reactions of iron(III) with phosphate were studied spectrophotometrically by UV-Vis in the pH range of ～ 1.0-2.20. The STAR-94 Program was used to determine the number of absorbing species as well as the stoichiometries and formation constants of the complex species. Some literature values were further confirmed and new values of different stoichiometries were obtained. The kinetics and mechanism of Fe(III) with phosphate were studied in acidic medium. The reactive phosphate species were found to be only H₃PO₄ and H₂PO^? ₄ and for Fe(III) were only Fe³⁺, FeOH²⁺ and Fe(OH)⁺ ₂. The observed rate constants were pH as well as T_phos (total concentration of phosphate) dependent, i.e. K_obs,i = A _i + B _i T_phos + C _i T² _phos (at a given pH).     

Determination of iron and copper in seawater at pH 1.7 with a new commercially available chelating resin, NTA Superflow

The use of a commercially available chelating resin with NTA-type functional groups for concentration of trace metals from seawater is described. Trace metal recoveries from this NTA Superflow chelating resin are pH dependent. At a pH of ≤2 only iron(III) and copper are quantitatively recovered from the resin. Iron(II) cannot be quantitatively recovered from this resin below a pH of 5. However, oxidation of acidified seawater samples (pH 1.7) with H₂O₂ prior to loading onto the resin has been demonstrated to allow quantitative recovery of total dissolved iron. Deferrioxamine and Rhodoturlic Acid, two commercially available siderophores were used to investigate the effect of strong Fe(III)-binding organic ligands on the ability to retain iron at different pH values. Acidification of seawater samples to pH 1.7 dissociates the iron complexed to these organic ligands, thereby allowing total dissolved iron and copper to be determined. Acidified samples from Monterey Bay were analyzed by a flow injection method coupled to ICP-SFMS detection using the NTA Superflow resin in the pre-concentration step. Results from this study show that when seawater samples are stored acidified (pH 1.7) over time, a portion of iron(III) is reduced to iron(II), thus necessitating the use of H₂O₂ to reoxidize the Fe(II) to Fe(III) prior to analysis. Total dissolved concentrations of iron and copper can be directly obtained on seawater samples at pH 1.7 with this method, eliminating the need to buffer the sample to a higher pH prior to column loading. This resin has the potential to be used in shipboard or in situ flow injection methods.     

Continuous sonoassisted digestion coupled to flow injection minicolumn separation for the determination of total and labile Cu and Fe in fresh waters by flame atomic absorption spectrometry

An automatic on-line system is developed for the trace determination of copper and iron species in fresh waters by flame atomic absorption spectrometry using only 5 and 2?mL of sample, for copper and iron determination, respectively. This system, which includes a home-made minicolumn of commercially available resin containing aminomethylphosphonic acid functional groups (Chelite P), comprises two operational modes. The first, used for the determination of the dissolved labile fraction (free copper and iron ions and their weak complexes) is based on the elution of this fraction from a minicolumn containing the chelating resin loaded in-situ with the sample. The second mode is used for the determination of total trace copper and iron concentrations. This last mode is based on the retention/preconcentration of total metals on the Chelite P resin after on-line sonoassisted digestion of water samples acidified with nitric acid (0.5?mol?L^?1 final concentration) to break down metal organic complexes present in fresh waters as river waters. The figures of merit for copper and iron determination in both fractions are given and the obtained values are discussed. The analytical method was characterized and the limit of detection and limit of quantification for the two metals were 0.5 and 1.6?µg?L^?1 for Cu and 2.3 and 6.1?µg?L^?1 for Fe, respectively. The repeatability, expressed as relative standard deviation, was in the range 1.0–2.1%. The speciation scheme was applied to the analysis of river surface water samples collected in Galicia (Northwest, Spain).     

Coprecipitative Preconcentration and Differential Pulse Cathodic Stripping Voltammetric Determination of Selenium (IV)

Abstract

A DPCSV procedure for the determination of selenium (IV) with a prior preconcentrative coprecipitation on iron (III) hydroxide has been developed. The experimental conditions for coprecipitation of selenium (IV) onto iron (III) hydroxide, viz. pH, iron (III) concentration, volume of aqueous phase and selenium concentration, were optimized. The coprecipitated selenium (IV) is dissolved in 10 ml of 0.1 M HCl and analysed using DPCSV in the presence of copper (II). Selenium concentrations as low as 10–100 ng present in 500 ml of the aqueous phase could be determined. The method is precise and has been applied to the analysis of sea water and reference material samples.     

Determination of dissolved iron(III) in estuarine and coastal waters by adsorptive stripping chronopotentiometry (SCP)

An adsorptive stripping chronopotentiometric (SCP) method has been developed for quantification of dissolved iron in estuarine and coastal waters. After UV-digestion of filtered samples the Fe(III) ions in non-deoxygenated samples were complexed with solochrom violet RS (SVRS). The complexes were then accumulated by adsorption on the surface of a mercury-film electrode. The stripping step was performed by applying a constant current of −17 μA. Sensitivity and detection limit were 15 ms nmol⁻¹ L (270 ms μg⁻¹ L) and 1.5 nmol L⁻¹ (84 ng L⁻¹), respectively, for 60-s electrolysis time. Compared with the only other chronopotentiometric method available for measurement of iron in natural waters, our procedure is fifty times more sensitive in a quarter of the electrolysis time. It therefore enables detection of the concentrations currently found in estuarine and coastal waters. The method was successfully used to study the behaviour and seasonal variations of dissolved iron in the Penzé estuary, NW France.     

Flotation separation and electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometric determination of lead in water samples

Abstract

The application of macro- and micro-electrodes constructed using the new ionophore were tested in a range of solution compositions reflecting concentrations found in fresh waters, and containing Cl^?, NO₃ ^?, SO₄ ^2-, HCO₃ ^2-, H₄SiO₄ and a natural humic acid. The inhibition of the electrode responses to these ions was quantified using a mixed-solution method by optimising the agreement between the measured potentials and predictions from the Nicolsky-Eisenman equation. In addition, measurements were made in separate solutions of KC1 to enable results to be compared with the literature. Apart from the results obtained for humic acid, mean selectivity coefficients for 16 macro- and 21 micro-electrode experiments are given. The results indicate inhibition of the electrode response to phosphate for all the anions in the concentration ranges of 0.05–1 mM Cl^?, 0.1–1.0 mM NO₃ ^?, 0.1–10.0 mM HCO₃ ^? and 0.1–1.5 mM SO₄ ^2- with high selectivity for HPO₄ ^2- in the presence of both dissolved silicon and a standard humic acid. This means that the application of the electrodes to hard waters is impracticable although studies of soft waters and laboratory studies in controlled conditions, e.g. calcium phosphate precipitation experiments, are feasible.     

Redox Properties of the Iron Complexes of Orally Active Iron Chelators CP20, CP502, CP509, and ICL670

Redox cycling of iron is a critical aspect of iron toxicity. Reduction of a low‐molecular‐weight iron(III)‐complex followed by oxidation of the iron(II)‐complex by hydrogen peroxide may yield the reactive hydroxyl radical (OH^.) or an oxoiron(IV) species (the Fenton reaction). Complexation of iron by a ligand that shifts the electrode potential of the complex to either to far below ?350 mV (dioxygen/superoxide, pH=7) or to far above +320 mV (H₂O₂/HO^., H₂O pH=7) is essential for limitting Fenton reactivity. The oral chelating agents CP20, CP502, CP509, and ICL670 effectively remove iron from patients suffering from iron overload. We measured the electrode potentials of the iron(III) complexes of these drugs by cyclic voltammetry with a mercury electrode and determined the dependence on concentration, pH, and stoichiometry. The standard electrode potentials measured are ?620 mV, ?600 mV, ?535 mV, and ?535 mV with iron bound to CP20, ICL670, CP502, and CP509, respectively, but, at lower chelator concentrations, electrode potentials are significantly higher.     

Addition of Hydrogen Peroxide to Groundwater with Natural Iron Induces Water Disinfection by Photo‐Fenton at Circumneutral pH and other Photochemical Events

Samples of natural groundwater (with low turbidity, neutral pH and 0.3 mg L^?1 iron concentration) inoculated with Escherichia coli K‐12 were exposed to simulated solar light both in the presence and in the absence 10 mg L^?1 of H₂O_2. Results demonstrated that the viability of E. coli (by DVC–FISH) was grounded to zero after 360 min of irradiation. This abatement could be caused by the oxidative stress induced by radicals or another photo‐induced reactive oxygen species. Two 2³ factorial experimental designs enabled the evaluation of the effects of chemical factors on the inactivation of E. coli. The first experimental design considered the pH, iron and H₂O₂, while the second evaluated the ions fluoride, carbonate and phosphate found in groundwater. pH was found to play a key role in the inactivation of E. coli. The best reduction in viability was obtained at the lower pH (6.75), while a nonsignificant effect was observed when iron or H₂O₂ concentrations were raised. At higher concentrations, anions, such as carbonate and phosphate, negatively affected the E. coli abatement. However, a higher concentration of fluoride accelerated it. In all experiments, the pH was observed to rise to values higher than 8.0 units after 360 min of treatment.     

Simultaneous Determination of Sodium,Potassium, and Ammonium Ions by Automated Direct Potentiometry

Abstract

Sodium, potassium and ammonium ions, in concentration ranges of natural and waste water samples, have been simultaneously determined by direct potentiometry, using sodium, potassium, and ammonia ion-sensitive electrodes. The results are printed out as concentration units directly from an automated continuous -flow system with on-line minicomputer and printer. The optimum sampling rate is 20 samples or 60 determinations per hour. Various water samples have been analyzed and the results compared to those obtained by the standard methods. The lower detection limits were 0.1 ppm for Na⁺ and NH₄ ⁺ and 1.0 ppm for K⁺. The values of standard deviation were < 10%, with the exception of the lowest concentrations. The relative error was in the range of ± 2%. The correlation of standard and proposed methods was very good.     

Flow-Injection Spectrophotometric Determination of Oxalate,Citrate and Tartrate Based on Photochemical Reactions

Abstract

A flow-injection configuration for the spectrophotometric determination of oxalate, citrate and tartrate is proposed. The procedure is based on the photochemical decomposition of the complexes formed between iron(III) and these anions. The iron(II) produced in the photochemical reactions was detected by measuring the absorbance after complexation with ferrozine (λ_max=562 nm). Linear calibration graphs were obtained over the concentration ranges 5.0 × 10^?6 - 1.0 × 10^?4 M, 8 × 10^?6 - 1.8 × 10^?4 M and 1.0 × 10^?6 - 2 × 10^?5 M for oxalate, citrate and tartrate, respectively. The relative standard deviations at the 1x10^?5 M concentration level were within the range 1.29 - 1.47 %. The sampling frequency was about 40 samples h^?1. The usefulness of the method was tested in the determination of oxalate in urine and spinach, of citrate in pharmaceuticals and soft drinks and of tartrate in pharmaceuticals. For the determination of oxalate in urine samples a prior separation of the analyte by precipitation with calcium chloride is recommended.     

Construction of a New Perbromate-Selective Electrode. Kinetic Study of the Iron(II)- Perbromate Reaction and Microdetermination of Iron

Abstract

A perbromate- selective membrane electrode with a liquid membrane of crystal violet-perbromate dissolved in chlorobenzene is described, The liquid membrane electrode exhibits rapid and near Nernstian response to perbromate activity from 10^?5 to 10^?2 M. The response is unaffected by pH in the range 2–10, Major interferences are periodate and perchlorate. A kinetic study of the iron(II)- perbromate reaction was carried out with the perbromate electrode, A potentiometric method is described for the determination of 50–500 μg of iron (II) with relative errors and standard deviations of 1–2%.     

Enzymatic Determination of Ammonia in Lake Water Using a Semi-Automatic Analyser

Abstract

An enzymatic method was developed for the determination of ammonia concentrations in lake water. Lake water samples containing ammonia were mixed with a glutamate dehydrogenase (GIDH), reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) and 2-oxoglutarate. The decrease in the absorbance intensity caused by the disappearance of NADPH by this reaction was measured at 340 nm. There was a linear relationship (r = 0.9997) between peak height and ammonia concentration over the range 0–29 μM. The detection limit was 0.29 μM for a sample volume of 250 μl. Interference of amino acids and urea at concentrations of 50 mg l^?1 was negligible. Good agreement was found between the enzymatic method and indophenol blue colorimetry.     

A novel equilibrium extraction technique employing hollow fibre liquid phase microextraction for trace enrichment of freely dissolved organophosphorus pesticides in environmental waters

A new design of equilibrium hollow fibre liquid phase microextraction (HF-LPME) was developed for the determination of three freely dissolved organophosphorus pesticides (OPPs), i.e. diazinon (O,O-diethyl-O-2-isopropyl-4-methyl-6-pyrimidyl thiophosphate), chlorpyrifos (O,O-diethyl-O-[3,5,6-trichloro-2-pyridyl] phosphorothioate), and fenthion (O,O-dimethyl-O-4-methylthio-m-tolyl phosphorothioate) as model compounds. In this new design a 1.2–1.4 cm length of a hollow fibre (HF), inserted to the end of 20 cm copper wire and impregnated with organic solvent, was used to extract the freely dissolved concentration of OPPs in various water samples. The limits of detection (LOD) in reagent water using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry in the selected ion monitoring (SIM) mode was in the range of 15–80 ng L^?1. The relative standard deviations of the analysis (inter- and intra-day) were 8.7–30%. The method was applied to the extraction of spiked lake and ground water samples. The ground water sample was spiked at 0.1 and 0.2 µg L^?1 concentrations of the analytes under study and the average extraction efficiency at the two concentrations was below 1% showing the non-depletive nature of the extraction, meaning that the freely dissolved concentrations are measured as opposed to total concentrations. Good linearity was obtained for all of the analytes in both reagent water and lake water samples with correlation coefficients, R ², ranging from 0.991 to 0.996, in the concentration ranges of 25–400 ng L^?1. The method was found to be very simple and inexpensive, with the possibility of running hundreds of samples in parallel with very minimal expenses for the determination of freely dissolved OPPs.     

The determination of metals at ppb levels by thin-film x-ray fluorescence spectrometry after coprecipitation with a molybdenum carrier complex

A method is described for the determination of iron, cobalt, nickel, copper, zinc, cadmium and lead in water at μg 1^-1 levels, in which the metals are coprecipitated with a molybdenum—pyrrolidinedithiocarbamate carrier complex. The precipitate is collected as a thin film on a membrane filter (0.4-μm pore-size) and analysed directly by x-ray fluorescence spectrometry. Detection limits, for 100-ml water samples and counting times of 200 s per element, are 1 μg metal l^-1 or lower. Total dissolved metal concentrations are obtained without boiling or u.v. irradiation of the water sample. The method is applicable to river and estuarine waters and is not affected by dissolved organic matter.     

Determination of Iron (II) in Water by a Spectrophotometric Method After Preconcentration on an Organic Solvent-Soluble Membrane Filter

Abstract

A solvent-soluble membrane filter is proposed for a simple and rapid preconcentration and spectrophotometric determination of iron (II), which was collected on a nitrocellulose membrane filter as an ion-associate of the cationic complex of iron (II)-1,10-phenanthroline with an anionic surfactant of dodecyl sulfate. The ion-associate collected was dissolved in 5 ml of 2-methoxyethanol together with the filter. The color intensity due to the ion-associate in the resulting solution was measured at 510 nm against a reagent blank. Beer's law is obeyed in the range 1–15 μg Fe (II) in 5 ml of solvent with excellent reproducibility, and detection limits better than 0.5 μg dm^?3 as Fe (II) can be achieved. The diverse components normally present in water do not interfere when proper masking reagent is added. The proposed method has been applied to the analysis of water samples from several sources such as river water, ground water and tapwater samples, the recoveries of the iron (II) added to the samples are quantitative, and results found are satisfactory.