Application of derivative UV spectrophotometry to the simultaneous determination of nitrate and nitrite ions in bath solutions for alkaline black-oxidation of steel

Second order derivative spectrophotometry was applied to the determination of nitrite and nitrate ions in bath solutions for alkaline black-oxidation of steel. The measurements were directly taken after dilution of the samples at λ = 336.4 nm for NO₃ ^– and λ = 390 nm for NO₂ ^–. The method was checked on artificial mixtures and applied to real samples containing approximately 5.5% NaNO₂ and 6% NaNO₃. The results agree well with those obtained by the standard manganometric method. Received: 8 July 1996 / Revised: 24 September 1996 / Accepted: 28 September 1996     

Preconcentration technique for manganese by adsorption onto a tantalum wire for tungsten tube atomizer electrothermal atomization atomic absorption spectrometry

A multi-pumping flow system for the spectrophotometric determination of nitrite and nitrate is described. The determination of nitrite is based on the Griess-Ilosvay reaction. Nitrate can be determined after its on-line reduction to nitrite using hydrazine sulphate in alkaline medium. Calibration was linear up to 3 mg NO₂ ⁻ L⁻¹ with a limit of detection (3s_b/S) of 0.013 mg NO₂ ⁻ L⁻¹ an injection throughput of 55 injections h⁻¹ and a repeatability (RSD) of 0.5% for the direct determination of nitrite. Two calibration graphs within the ranges 0.039–7 mg NO₃ ⁻ L⁻¹ and 0.026–5 mg NO₂ ⁻ L⁻¹ were run for the determination of nitrate and nitrite under reducing conditions, respectively. A limit of detection of 0.039 mg NO₃ ⁻ L⁻¹ was obtained. An injection throughput of 27 injections h⁻¹ and an RSD lower than 1.5% were achieved. The method was successfully applied to the determination of nitrite and nitrate in water samples. Correspondence: Víctor Cerdà, Department of Chemistry, University of the Balearic Islands, Carretera de Valldemossa Km7.5, 07122 Palma de Mallorca, Spain     

Design of a field flow system for the on-line spectrophotometric determination of phosphate, nitrite and nitrate in natural water and wastewater

This study describes the design and optimisation of a field flow system for the in-situ collection and on-line determination of phosphate, nitrate and nitrite by flow injection analysis-spectrophotometry. The method is based on the initial determination of phosphate as its phosphoantimonylmolybdenum blue complex which is then oxidized on-line by nitrite and the decrease in absorbance is monitored at 880 nm. Nitrate is determined as the difference between total and initial nitrite content in a separate flow after reduction to nitrite in a cadmium reductive column. The calibration curves were linear in the range 0–2.00 mg L⁻¹ P-phosphate, 0–10.00 mg L⁻¹ nitrite and 0–7.00 mg L⁻¹ nitrate with correlation coefficients of 0.9979, 0.9993 and 0.9995, respectively. The detection limits, calculated as 3S/N, were 0.15 mg L⁻¹ for P-phosphate, 0.17 mg L⁻¹ for nitrite and 0.09 mg L⁻¹ for nitrate. The reproducibility was below 3.0% (n = 7). Method validation in the analysis of natural water and wastewater samples revealed that it can efficiently be applied to the determination of the target analytes, with recoveries in the range of 92–108%. Correspondence: Athanasios G. Vlessidis, Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, University of Ioannina, Ioannina 45110, Greece     

Chemometric approach to the optimisation of LC-FL and GC-MS methods for the determination of nitrite and nitrate in some biological,food and environmental samples

Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS) method and a liquid chromatography–fluorescence (LC-FL) detection method using experimental design and optimisation approach were improved for the quantitative determination of nitrite and nitrate in biological, food and environmental samples. The obtained recoveries of nitrite and nitrate ions from samples based on both GC-MS and LC-FL results ranged from 98.5% to 98.9% for nitrite and 97.9% to 98.4% for nitrate. The precision of these methods, as indicated by the relative standard deviations (RSDs), was within the range from 2.4% to 3.6% for nitrite and 2.5% to 3.8% for nitrate, respectively. The limits of detection of nitrite and nitrate ions from samples based on GC-MS and LC-FL results ranged from 0.01 to 0.14 ng L^?1 for nitrite and 0.02 to 0.71 ng L^?1 for nitrate, respectively. The optimised isolation procedure by central composite design was successfully applied to real samples. The results revealed that the proposed procedure combined with GC-MS and LC-FL techniques is more sensitive, reliable and selective compared to the other methods available for the precise determination of trace levels of nitrite and nitrate in biological, food and environmental samples.     

A novel kinetic-spectrophotometric method for determination of nitrites in water

A simple, selective and sensitive kinetic method for the determination of nitrite in water was developed. The method is based on the catalytic effect of nitrite on the oxidation of methylene blue (MB) with bromate in a sulfuric acid medium. During the oxidation process, absorbance of the reaction mixture decreases with the increasing time, inversely proportional to the nitrite concentration. The reaction rate was monitored spectrophotometrically at λ = 666 nm within 30 s of mixing. Linear calibration graph was obtained in the range of 0.005–0.5 μg mL⁻¹ with a relative standard deviation of 2.09 % for six measurements at 0.5 μg mL⁻¹. The detection limit was found to be 0.0015 μg mL⁻¹. The effect of different factors such as acidity, time, bromate concentration, MB concentration, ionic strength, and order of reactants additions is reported. Interference of the most common foreign ions was also investigated. The optimum experimental conditions were: 0.38 mol L⁻¹ H₂SO₄, 5 × 10.4 mol L⁻¹ KBrO₃, 1.25 × 10.5 mol L⁻¹ MB, 0.3 mol L⁻¹ sodium nitrate, and 25°C. The proposed method was conveniently applied for the determination of nitrite in spiked drinking water samples.     

The mechanism of electroreduction of nitrate ions on a hybrid electrode nanodispersed copper-MK-40 membrane

Based on a MK-40 sulfocation-exchange membrane, a hybride electrode material containing nanodispersed copper is prepared. The methods of scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis reveal the formation of copper agglomerates measuring 250–470 nm and consisting of individual particles of 20–30 nm. The procedure of multistage chemical deposition of copper into the ion-exchange carrier makes it possible to obtain a continuous cluster of metal particles which determines the electron conducting properties of the resulting hybrid material. The electrochemical activity of the nanocomposite electrode is studied in the reaction of nitrate ion electroreduction. Nanodispersed copper deposited into the membrane is shown to intensify the electroreduction of nitrate ions by a factor of 1.5–2 as compared with a compact copper electrode. The electroreduction of nitrate ions on compact copper is shown to involve 6 electrons, whereas the electroreduction on the nanocomposite involves 8 electrons. The electroreduction products of nitrate ions are identified by the IR spectroscopy method.     

Determination of low level nitrite and nitrate in biological, food and environmental samples by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection

Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection (LC-FL) methods have been proposed for the determination of low level nitrite and nitrate in biological, food and environmental samples. The methods include derivatization of aqueous nitrite with 2,3-diaminonaphthalene (DAN), enzymatic reduction of nitrate to nitrite, extraction with toluene and chromatographic analyses of highly fluorescent 2,3-naphthotriazole (NAT) derivative of nitrite by using GC-MS in selected-ion-monitoring (SIM) mode and LC-FL. Nitrite and nitrate ions in solid samples were extracted with 0.5 M aqueous NaOH by sonication. The recoveries of nitrite and nitrate ions based on GC-MS and LC-FL results were 98.40% and 98.10% and the precision of these methods, as indicated by the relative standard deviations (RSDs) were 1.00% for nitrite and 1.20% for nitrate, respectively. The limits of detection of the GC-MS in SIM mode and LC-FL methods based on S/N = 3 were 0.02 and 0.29 pg/ml for nitrite and 0.03 and 0.30 pg/ml for nitrate, respectively.     

Complexometric Determination of Zinc(II) Using 2,2′-Bipyridyl as Selective Masking Agent

 An indirect complexometric method is described for the determination of zinc(II) using 2,2′-bipyridyl as masking agent. Zinc(II) in a given sample solution is initially complexed with an excess of EDTA and surplus EDTA is titrated with lead nitrate solution at pH 5.0–6.0 (hexamine), using xylenol orange as indicator. An excess of 2,2′-bipyridyl is then added, the mixture shaken well and the EDTA released from the Zn-EDTA complex is titrated with standard lead nitrate solution. Results are obtained for 3–39 mg of Zn with relative errors ≤ 0.5% and standard deviations ± 0.06 mg. The interference of various ions are studied. The method is applied for the determination of zinc in its alloys and ores. Received October 27, 1998. Revision June 10, 1999.     

Sequential Spectrophotometric Determination of Microgram Amounts of Nitrate and Nitrite in Mixtures

This paper describes three new methods: the first may be used for the determination of nitrite; the second is applicable to determination of nitrate; and the third permits sequential determination of both nitrite and nitrate in mixtures with no prior separation. For the determination of nitrite and nitrate in synthetic mixtures containing 1:5 to 5:1 ratios of the ions, in tap water, and in river water, mean recoveries (for 3 to 22 μg of added NO⁻₃and NO⁻₂) are 96.1 and 98.1% (n= 15) and coefficients of variation are 2.2 and 2.5% for NO⁻₃and NO⁻₂(n= 5), respectively.     

Determination of nitrate and nitrite in mixtures with a nitrate ion electrode

A rapid method for the determination of nitrate and nitrite ions is described. The potential of a mixture of nitrate and nitrite was measured with a nitrate ion selective electrode. The nitrite in the mixture is then oxidized to nitrate with permanganate in acid solution, and the potential of the oxidized solution is also measured with the electrode. The fundamental equations for the response of the nitrate ion electrode to nitrate ion in the presence of interfering ions were used, and a new equation was developed for calculating the original nitrate concentration of the mixture. The absolute errors for solutions of known concentrations (2.5–100 p.p.m. each) were 1.8 p.p.m. nitrate and 2 p.p.m. nitrite. When the results are calculated by computer, five determinations can be performed in 30 min. The method was applied to the determination of the oxides of nitrogen in cigarette smoke as nitrite and nitrate after dissolution in basic solution.     

A nitrate-selective microelectrode based on a lipophilic derivative of iodocobalt(III)salen

The synthesis of iodo{2,2′-[1,2-octadecanediylbis(nitrilomethylidyne)]diphenolato}cobalt is described. Liquid membrane microelectrodes based on this carrier exhibit Nernstian behaviour with a selectivity sequence according to the Hofmeister series: I^– > NO₃ ^– > NO₂ ^– > Cl^– > HCO₃ ^– > AcO^–. The selectivity coefficient of nitrate over nitrite and chloride amounts to –1.6 and –2.7, respectively. The detection limit for nitrate in water amounts to 10^–5.2 mol/L. A nitrate profile measured in a nitrifying biofilm is presented as a practical application. Received: 11 November 1998 / Revised: 22 January 1999 / Accepted: 27 January 1999     

Spectrophotometric determination of nitrite in natural waters using diazotization-coupling method with column preconcentration on naphthalene supported with ion-pair of tetradecyldimethylbenzyl-ammonium and iodide

A column preconcentration method has been established for the spectrophotometric determination of traces of nitrite using diazotization and coupling on an naphthalene-tetradecyldimethylbenzylammonium (TDBA)-iodide (I) adsorbent. Nitrite ion reacts with sulfanilic acid (SA) in the pH range 1.8–3.0 for the SA-1-naphthol system and in the pH range 2.3–3.2 for the SA-1-naphthylamine-4-sulfonate system (SA-NAS system) in hydrochloric acid medium to form water-soluble colourless diazonium cations. These cations were coupled with 1-naphthol in the pH range 1.6–4.6 and with NAS in the pH range 2.6–5.0 to be retained on naphthalene-TDBA-I packed in a column. The solid mass was dissolved from the column with 5 mL of dimethylformamide (DMF) and the absorbance measured at 418 nm for the SA-1-naphthol system and at 485 nm for the SA-NAS system. The calibration curve was linear over the concentration range 0.02–0.87 mg/L for SA-1-naphthol and 0.02–0.80 mg/L in the sample for SA-NAS. The molar absorptivity was calculated to be 1.70 × l0⁴ Lmol⁻¹ cm⁻¹ for SA-1-naphthol and 1.66 × l0⁴ L mol⁻¹ cm⁻¹ for SA-NAS. The detection limits were found to be 0.014 and 0.016 mg/L for SA-1-naphthol and SA-NAS, respectively. The preconcentration factors were 8 and 6 for SA-1-naphthol and SA-NAS, respectively. Replicate determinations of seven sample solutions containing 6.6 ug of nitrite for SA-1-naphthol and 5.3 ug of nitrite for SA-NAS gave mean absorbances of 0.486 and 0.382 with relative standard deviations of 0.49 and 0.58%, respectively. Interferences due to various foreign ions have been studied and the method has been applied to the determination of 27–65 μg/L levels of nitrite in natural waters. The recovery and relative standard deviation for water samples were 98–102% and 0.49–0.58% for both systems. Presented at the 29th Colloquium Spectroscopicum Internationale, Leipzig, Germany, 27 August –1 September 1995     

Capillary electrophoresis determination of nitrate and nitrite in high-salt perchlorate solutions for the UC dissolution study

The capillary electrophoresis method with direct UV detection is proposed for the determination of nitrite and nitrate in high-salt perchlorate solutions issued from uranium carbide dissolution. The isotachophoretic sample stacking was used to compensate for the perchlorate matrix interference. Simple electrolyte composed of 120 mM formiate buffer, pH 3.8 enabled the nitrate and nitrite determination in the presence of up to 1000-fold excess of perchlorate with 2 μM and 4 μM detection limits for nitrate and nitrite, respectively. The proposed method was applied to the determination of nitrate and nitrite in high-salt non-irradiated uranium carbide dissolution samples.     

Spectrophotometric determination of nitrite in natural waters using diazotization-coupling method with column preconcentration on naphthalene supported with ion-pair of tetradecyldimethylbenzyl-ammonium and iodide

 A column preconcentration method has been established for the spectrophotometric determination of traces of nitrite using diazotization and coupling on an naphthalene-tetradecyldimethylbenzylammonium (TDBA)-iodide (I) adsorbent. Nitrite ion reacts with sulfanilic acid (SA) in the pH range 1.8–3.0 for the SA-1-naphthol system and in the pH range 2.3–3.2 for the SA-1-naphthylamine-4-sulfonate system (SA-NAS system) in hydrochloric acid medium to form water-soluble colourless diazonium cations. These cations were coupled with 1-naphthol in the pH range 1.6–4.6 and with NAS in the pH range 2.6–5.0 to be retained on naphthalene-TDBA-I packed in a column. The solid mass was dissolved from the column with 5 mL of dimethylformamide (DMF) and the absorbance measured at 418 nm for the SA-1-naphthol system and at 485 nm for the SA-NAS system. The calibration curve was linear over the concentration range 0.02–0.87 mg/L for SA-1-naphthol and 0.02–0.80 mg/L in the sample for SA-NAS. The molar absorptivity was calculated to be 1.70×10⁴ L mol^-1 cm^-1 for SA-1-naphthol and 1.66×10⁴ L mol^-1 cm^-1 for SA-NAS. The detection limits were found to be 0.014 and 0.016 mg/L for SA-1-naphthol and SA-NAS, respectively. The preconcentration factors were 8 and 6 for SA-1-naphthol and SA-NAS, respectively. Replicate determinations of seven sample solutions containing 6.6 μg of nitrite for SA-1-naphthol and 5.3 μg of nitrite for SA-NAS gave mean absorbances of 0.486 and 0.382 with relative standard deviations of 0.49 and 0.58%, respectively. Interferences due to various foreign ions have been studied and the method has been applied to the determination of 27–65 μg/L levels of nitrite in natural waters. The recovery and relative standard deviation for water samples were 98–102% and 0.49–0.58% for both systems. Received: 1 December 1995/Revised: 22 April 1996/Accepted: 22 April 1996     

A New Differential Pulse Voltammetric Method for the Determination of Nitrate at a Copper Plated Glassy Carbon Electrode

 A differential pulse voltammetric method for the determination of nitrate has been described, which is applicable to the analysis of natural water samples with nitrate levels greater than 2.8 × 10⁻⁶ M. A reduction peak for the nitrate ions at a freshly copper plated glassy carbon electrode was observed at about −0.50 V vs Ag ∣AgCl∣KCl_satd electrode in a solution of 2.0 × 10⁻² M Cu²⁺, 0.5 M H₂SO₄ and 1.0 × 10⁻³ M KCl and exploited for analytical purposes. The working linear range was established by regression analysis and found to extend from 2.8 ×10⁻⁶ M to 8.0 × 10⁻⁵ M. The proposed method was applied for the determination of nitrate in natural waters. The detection limit of the method was 2.8 × 10⁻⁶ M and the sensitivity was 0.9683 A·L/mol. The possible interferences by some ions such as phosphate, nitrite and some halides were determined and found to lead to shifts of the peak position and increasing the peak heights. Received March 15, 1999. Revision July 9, 1999.     

High sensitive determination of trace amount of cobalt by catalytic adsorptive stripping voltammetry

A very sensitive and selective catalytic adsorptive cathodic stripping procedure for trace measurements of cobalt is presented. The method is based on adsorptive accumulation of cobalt-CCA (calcon carboxylic acid) complex onto a hanging mercury drop electrode followed by reduction of the adsorbed species by voltammetric scan using differential pulse modulation. The reduction current is enhanced catalytically by nitrite. The effect of various parameters such as pH, concentration of CCA, concentration of nitrite, accumulation potential and accumulation time on the selectivity and sensitivity were studied. The optimum condition for the analysis of cobalt, include pH 5.2 (Acetate buffer), 2.1 μM clacon carboxylic acid, 0.032 M sodium nitrite and an accumulation potential of 0.05 V (versus Ag/AgCl). Under these optimum conditions and for an accumulation time of 60 s, the measured peak current at −0.480 V is proportional to the concentration of cobalt over the entire concentration range tested 0.003–2.0 ng ml⁻¹ with a detection limit of 1 pg ml⁻¹ for an accumulation time of 60 s and 2.0–10.0 ng ml⁻¹ for an accumulation time of 40 s. The relative standard deviations for ten replicate measurement of 0.5 ng ml⁻¹ of cobalt were 3.1%. The main advantage of this new system is the microtrace Co(II) determination by ASV. The method was applied to determination of cobalt in a water sample and some analytical grade salts with satisfactory results. Published in Elektrokhimiya in Russian, 2009, Vol. 45, No. 2, pp. 221–228. The article is published in the original.     

Ultrasound-enhanced surfactant-assisted dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction and high-performance liquid chromatography for determination of ketoconazole and econazole nitrate in human blood

A simple and efficient method, based on ultrasound-enhanced surfactant-assisted dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction (UESA-DLLME) followed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) has been developed for extraction and determination of ketoconazole and econazole nitrate in human blood samples. In this method, a common cationic surfactant, cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), was used as dispersant. Chloroform (40 μL) as extraction solvent was added rapidly to 5 mL blood containing 0.068 mg mL⁻¹ CTAB. The mixture was then sonicated for 2 min to disperse the organic chloroform phase. After the extraction procedure, the mixture was centrifuged to sediment the organic chloroform phase, which was collected for HPLC analysis. Several conditions, including type and volume of extraction solvent, type and concentration of the surfactant, ultrasound time, extraction temperature, pH, and ionic strength were studied and optimized. Under the optimum conditions, linear calibration curves were obtained in the ranges 4–5000 μg L⁻¹ for ketoconazole and 8–5000 μg L⁻¹ for econazole nitrate, with linear correlation coefficients for both >0.99. The limits of detection (LODs, S/N = 3) and enrichment factors (EFs) were 1.1 and 2.3 μg L⁻¹, and 129 and 140 for ketoconazole and econazole nitrate, respectively. Reproducibility and recovery were good. The method was successfully applied to the determination of ketoconazole and econazole nitrate in human blood samples.     

Anodic stripping voltammetric determination of total lead, copper and selenium in whole blood and blood serum

A two-step procedure including appropriate wet-digestions, separation of selenium from interfering ions such as heavy metal ions with pentyl alcohol and anodic stripping voltammetric (ASV) determination of Pb²⁺, Cu²⁺ and SeO₃ ^2– is developed. The elements in digested whole blood and serum sample solutions were determined by using a standard addition method. 1 × 10^–9 mol/L SeO^2– ₃, Cu²⁺ and Pb²⁺ were successfully determined with relative standard deviations of approximately 1–2% (n = 6–8). Received: 19 August 1996 / Revised: 24 February 1997 / Accepted: 28 February 1997     

Direct multiparametric determination of anions in soil samples by integrating on-line automated extraction/filtering with capillary electrophoresis

An integrated continuous flow-capillary electrophoresis for the determination of soluble anions in soil samples is presented. A filtration probe coupled with the flow system, which is located before the capillary electrophoresis instrument, was designed to simplify sample pretreatment and to perform clean-up of aqueous soil suspensions. Only the manual weighing of the samples is needed. The extraction process for soil samples was optimized. The clear filtrate containing the soluble anions from soil was then passed to the capillary electrophoresis equipment by a home-made programmable arm. Chloride, sulfate, nitrite and nitrate were determined in soil samples at μg g^–1 level and the results compared to manual reference methods. The precision expressed as relative standard deviation was in the range of ± 1.6 to ± 2.5% for the set of analytes determined. The procedure is up to 4 times faster than the competitive manual methods. Received: 29 July 1997 / Revised: 10 September 1997 / Accepted: 13 September 1997     

Volumetric method for the determination of uranium in the active process solutions

The DAVIES and GRAY method for the determination of uranium has been scaled down to facilitate the analysis of the radioactive solutions encountered in the fuel reprocessing plants. The sensitivity of the end point detection is improved by carrying out suitable modification in the procedure. Two procedures are described: (1) 70-ml procedure for the determination of 5–25 mg uranium, and (2) 30-ml procedure for 1–5 mg of uranium. The coefficient of variation is about 0.2% for 2–25 mg of uranium.