Ion chromatography for determination of nitrite and nitrate in seawater using monolithic ODS columns

A fast and highly sensitive ion chromatographic method using monolithic ODS columns was developed for the determination of nitrite (NO2-) and nitrate (NO3-) in seawater. Two monolithic ODS columns (50 mm x 4.6 mm i.d. + 100 mm x 4.6 mm i.d.) connected in series were coated and equilibrated with 5 mM cetyltrimethylammonium chloride (CTAC) aqueous solution. The column efficiency with 0.5 M NaCl as the mobile phase did not decrease in spite of the increase in flow rate of the mobile phase. Thus, good chromatograms were obtained within 3 minutes for NO2- and NO3 in artificial seawater without interferences by coexisting ions. The detection limit (S/N = 3) with UV detection at 225 nm was 0.8 and 1.6 microg/L for NO2- and NO3-, respectively. The characteristics of the monolithic CTA(+)-coated ODS columns were discussed. The present method was successfully applied to the fast and sensitive determination of NO2- and NO3- in real seawater samples.     

Silver-enhanced reduction of 2,3,5-triphenyl-2H-tetrazolium by semicarbazide for the spectrophotometric determination of traces of silver(I).

A sensitive spectrophotometric method for the determination of silver is described. The reaction involves a silver-enhanced reduction of 2,3,5-triphenyl-2H-tetrazolium chloride by semicarbazide hydrochloride to yield a pink-colored product with maximum absorption at 510 nm. Beer's law is obeyed in the concentration range of 0.02-0.34 microg cm(-3) of silver, and the molar absorptivity is 4.51 x 10(5) l mol(-1) cm(-1). The optical parameters, optimum reaction conditions and interference studies have been described. The method has been applied to the determination of silver in photographic film waste water and in synthetic samples.     

Portable flow-injection analyzer for nitrite and nitrate in natural water.

A portable flow-injection analyzer with solid-state spectrophotometric detection for the determination of nitrite and nitrate is described. It utilizes the Griess-Saltzman reaction. The instrument comprises a two-channel peristaltic pump, two six-port injection valves and a mini cadmium column between them. The sample loops were connected serially. The detection limits of the method were less than 7 microg l(-1) for NO2- and 10 microg l(-1) for NO3-.     

A simple spectrophotometric method for the determination of copper in industrial, environmental, biological and soil samples using 2,5-dimercapto-1,3,4-thiadiazole.

A simple spectrophotometric method is presented for the rapid determination of copper at a trace level using 2,5-dimercapto-1,3,4-thiadiazole (DMTD) as a new spectrophotometric reagent. The method is based on the reaction of non-absorbent DMTD in a slightly acidic (0.002-0.014 mol dm(-3) sulfuric acid) aqueous solution with copper(II) to produce a highly absorbent greenish-yellow chelate product that has an absorption maximum at 390 nm. The reaction is instantaneous and the absorbance remains stable for 24 h. The average molar absorption coefficient and Sandell's sensitivity were found to be 5.65 x 10(4) dm3 mol(-1) cm(-1) and 10 ng cm(-2) of CuII, respectively. Linear calibration graphs were obtained for 0.1-20 microg cm(-3) of CuII; the stoichiometric composition of the chelate is 1:2 (Cu:DMTD). A large excess of over 50 cations, anions and complexing agents (e.g. tartrate, oxalate, citrate, phosphate, thiourea, SCN-) do not interfere in the determination. The method was successfully used for the determination of copper in several Standard Reference Materials as well as in some environmental water samples, biological samples, soil samples and solutions containing both copper(I) and copper(II) and complex synthetic mixtures. The method has high precision and accuracy (s = +/-0.01 for 0.5 microg cm(-1)).     

A simple and sensitive analytical method for the determination of antimony in environmental and biological samples.

The results of a study and application of leucocrystal violet for the determination of antimony in parts per million levels is described here. The proposed method is based on the reaction of antimony(III) with acidified potassium iodate to liberate iodine. The liberated iodine selectively oxidizes leucocrystal violet to crystal violet dye. The formed dye shows maximum absorbance at 590 nm. The color system obeys Beer's law in the concentration range from 0.4 - 3.6 microg antimony per 25 ml of final solution. The molar absorptivity and Sandell's sensitivity were found to be 7.32 x 10(5) l mol(-1) cm(-1) and 0.0016 microg cm(-2), respectively. All variables were studied in order to optimize the reaction. The proposed method is satisfactorily applicable for the analysis of antimony in various environmental and biological samples. The method is simple, highly sensitive, accurate and reliable.     

Rapid spectrophotometric method (aqueous and extractive) for the determination of titanium in silicate rocks

A sensitive and highly selective aqueous as well as extractive spectrophotometric method has been developed for the determination of titanium(IV) using 2,3-dihydroxynaphthalene (H(2)ND) as a chromogenic agent. The reagent (H(2)ND) forms a 1:3 (TiOH(3+):ligand) complex at pH 4-9. The molar absorptivity and Sandell's sensitivity are 3.2 x 10(4) l . mol(-1)mol . cm(-1) and 0.001 microg/cm(2), respectively at lambda(max) 375 nm. The method has been found highly selective for Ti(IV) determination in rock samples. Solvent extraction of Ti(IV) in ethylacetate greatly improves the detection limit of the method. The method has been successfully applied to diverse silicate rock samples and results obtained are favourably comparable with those obtained from the tiron method. The reagent (H(2)ND) used in the present investigation is a much better variant than tiron for titanium(IV) determination in silicate rock samples in terms of sensitivity, selectivity, operational simplicity and economy.     

Flow-injection analysis of nitrate by reduction to nitrite and gas-phase molecular absorption spectrometry

Two flow-injection manifolds have been investigated for the determination of nitrate. These manifolds are based on the reduction of nitrate to nitrite and determination of nitrite by gas-phase molecular absorption spectrophotometry. Nitrate sample solution (300 microL) which is injected to the flow line, is reduced to nitrite by reaction with hydrazine or passage through the on-line copperized cadmium (Cd-Cu) reduction column. The nitrite produced reacts with a stream of hydrochloric acid and the evolved gases are purged into the stream of O2 carrier gas. The gaseous phase is separated from the liquid phase using a gas-liquid separator and then swept into a flow-through cell which has been positioned in the cell compartment of an UV-visible spectrophotometer. The absorbance of the gaseous phase is measured at 204.7 nm. A linear relationship was obtained between the intensity of absorption signals and concentration of nitrate when Cd-Cu reduction method was used, but a logarithmic relationship was obtained when the hydrazine reduction method was used. By use of the Cd-Cu reduction method, up to 330 microg of nitrate was determined. The limit of detection was 2.97 microg nitrate and the relative standard deviations for the determination of 12.0, 30.0 and 150 microg nitrate were 3.32, 3.87 and 3.6%, respectively. Maximum sampling rate was approximately 30 samples per hour. The Cd-Cu reduction method was applied to the determination of nitrate and the simultaneous determination of nitrate and nitrite in meat products, vegetables, urine, and a water sample.     

Spectrophotometric determination of thorium in standard samples and monazite sands based on the floated complex of thorium with N-hydroxy-N,N′-diphenylbenzamidine and thorin

A selective and sensitive spectrophotometric method for the determination of Th(IV) has been based on the reaction with thorin and subsequent extraction of the red-orange coloured complex with N-hydroxy-N,N'-diphenylbenzamidine (HDPBA) in benzene as floated complex at pH 2.2. The complex in ethanol exhibits a maximum absorbance at 495 nm, with a molar absorptivity of 6.0x10(4) l mol(-1) cm(-1), with a Sandell's sensitivity of 3.9x10(-3) microg cm(-2). The method follows Beer's law up to 3.0 microg Th(IV) ml(-1). None of the common cations and anions tested interfere. The detection limit of the method is 0.04 microg Th(IV) ml(-1), the RSD (n=10) is 1.4%. The method has been successfully employed for the determination of thorium in various standard and monazite samples.     

Nitron as a titrant in potentiometric determination of nitrate

A volumetric method of nitrate determination has been developed, using nitron as a titrant and detecting the end-point potentiometrically with a membrane electrode sensitive to nitrate. To get a better insight into the characteristics of the system, the acid dissociation constant of nitron was evaluated spectrophotometrically (pK(a) = 10.34). The solubility product of nitron nitrate was found to be 1.78 +/- 0.03 x 10(-6) (20 degrees , 0.05M K(2)SO(4)). The optimal nitrate concentration for titration is about 0.01M and this method may be successfully applied for determination of nitrate nitrogen in fertilizer samples.     

Determination of nitrate with a flow-injection system combining square-wave polarographic detection with on-line deaeration

The combination of a flow-injection system with square-wave polarography and on-line deaeration is applied to the determination of nitrate, utilizing the catalytic reaction between nitrate and uranyl ion. The method is simple, rapid (60 samples h^?1), sensitive and accurate, with a detection limit of 2 μM nitrate. The method has been applied to the determination of nitrate in drinking and river waters.     

Novel sensitive spectrophotometric method for the trace determination of cyanide in industrial effluent.

The high toxicity of the cyanide ion at low concentration necessitates its analysis in a variety of environmental samples with a very low cyanide content. A new sensitive spectrophotometric method has been developed for the trace determination of cyanide with ninhydrin (NH) in an alkaline medium. Beer's law is obeyed in the range of cyanide concentration 0.04-0.24 microg cm(-3), and the molar absorptivity at 590 nm is 2.20 x 10(5) dm3 mol(-1) cm(-1). The Sandell's sensitivity of the product is 0.000118 microg cm(-2). The optimum reaction conditions and other important analytical parameters have been investigated. The results obtained by using the proposed method for environmental samples agree well with those obtained by the Aldridge standard method.     

Determination of sulphate and nitrate in plutonium compounds by infrared spectroscopy

An infrared spectrophotometric method is described for the determination of sulphate and nitrate in plutonium peroxide and plutonium tetrafluoride. Spectra of the samples in potassium bromide pellets are obtained over the 4000-4680 cm(-1) wavelength region; sulphate is determined from the absorbance of the 1103 cm(-1) absorption band and nitrate from the 1370 cm(-1) band. Data are given on the precision and accuracy for analyses of peroxide and tetrafluoride samples.     

Spectrophotometric determination of selenium by use of thionin

A simple, rapid, and sensitive spectrophotometric method has been developed for the determination of selenium in real samples of water, soil, plant materials, human hair, and synthetic cosmetic and in pharmaceutical preparations. The method is based on the reaction of selenium with potassium iodide in an acidic medium to liberate iodine. The liberated iodine bleaches the violet color of thionin, and which is measured at 600 nm. This decrease in absorbance is directly proportional to selenium concentration and obeys Beer's law in the range 1-5 micro g selenium in a final volume of 10 mL (0.1-0.5 microg mL(-1)). The molar absorptivity and Sandell's sensitivity of the method were found to be 7.33 x 10(4) L mol(-1) cm(-1) and 0.0011 microg cm(-2), respectively. The optimum reaction conditions and other analytical conditions were evaluated. The effect of interfering ions on the determination is described.     

Spectrophotometric determination of glucosamine and its analogous amino sugars with o-hydroxyhydroquinonephthalein and palladium(II).

A simple and highly sensitive spectrophotometric method for the determination of glucosamine and its analogous amino sugars was established based on fading of the palladium(II)-o-hydroxyhydroquinonephthalein-hexadecyltrimethylammonium complex. In the determination of glucosamine, Beer's law is obeyed in the range of 0.02 - 0.18 microg ml(-1), with an effective molar absorptivity at 630 nm and the relative standard deviation being 8.4 x 10(5) dm3 mol(-1) cm(-1) and 1.08% (n = 10). This method is about 70-times more sensitive than the Elson-Morgan method. The method was successfully applied to the assay of glucosamine in actual samples.     

Sensitive spectrophotometric determination of nitrite in human saliva and rain water and of nitrogen dioxide in the atmosphere

A new simple, sensitive, and selective spectrophotometric method was developed for the determination of nitrite. The method is based on the reaction of nitrite with sulfathiazole in acidic medium to form a diazonium cation, which is subsequently coupled with N-(1-naphthyl)ethylenediamine dihydrochloride to form a highly stable, violet azo dye. The reaction product has an absorption maximum at 546 nm and obeys Beer's law over a nitrite range of 0.054-0.816 microg/mL. The molar absorptivity of the colored compound is 4.61 x 10(4) L/mol x cm). The detection limit is 12.1 microg/L. The relative standard deviation is 0.85% for 5 determinations of nitrite at 0.27 microg/mL. The reproducibility and validity of the proposed method are discussed in the present paper. The simplicity of the method is demonstrated by the high stability of the azo-dye product as well as the short time required for its complete formation in a reaction at room temperature without pH control or extra extraction. The sensitivity of the method is shown by the successful determination of nitrite in human saliva and rain water, and of nitrogen dioxide in the atmosphere. The results compare favorably with those obtained by the reference method. The selectivity of the method is indicated by its freedom from most interferences, even at high concentrations of nitrate (500 microg/mL).     

Spectrophotometric determination of silver with 2-(2-quinolylazo)-5-diethylaminophenol as chromogenic reagent

A new chromogenic reagent, 2-(2-quinolylazo)-5-diethylaminophenol (QADEAP) was synthesized. A highly sensitive, selective and rapid method for the determination of silver based on the rapid reaction of silver(I) with QADEAP has been developed. In the presence of citric acid-sodium hydroxide buffer solution (pH=5.0) and sodium dodecyl sulfonate (SDS) medium, QADEAP reacts with silver to form a violet complex of a molar ratio 1:2 (silver to QADEAP). The molar absorptivity of the complex is 1.33x10(5) L mol(-1) cm(-1)at 590 nm. Beer' s law is obeyed in the range of 0.01-0.6 micro g mL(-1). The relative standard deviations for eleven replicate samples of 0.2 microg mL(-1) is 1.38%. This method was applied to the determination of silver in water with satisfactory results.     

Solid phase extraction and spectrophotometric determination of silver with 2-(2-quinolylazo)-5-diethylaminophenol as chromogenic reagent.

A new chromogenic reagent, 2-(2-quinolylazo)-5-diethylaminophenol (QADEAP), was synthesized. A sensitive, selective and rapid method has been developed for the determination of microg/L level silver ion based on the rapid reaction of silver(l) with QADEAP and the solid phase extraction of the colored chelate with C18 cartridge. The QADEAP reacts with Ag(l) to form a violet chelate of a molar ratio 1:2 (silver to QADEAP) in pH 3.5-8.0. This chelate was prconcentrated by solid phase extraction with C18 cartridge. An enrichment factor of 100 was achieved. The molar absorptivity of the chelate is 1.30 x 10(5) L mol(-1) cm(-1) at 590 nm in measured solution. Beer's law is obeyed in the range of 0.01-0.6 microg/ml. The relative standard deviation for eleven replicate samples of 0.01 microg/ml is 1.15%. The detection limit is 0.02 microg/L in the original samples. This method was applied to the determination of microg/L level silver ion in water with good results.     

Kinetic spectrophotometric method for the determination of trace amounts of oxalate by an activation effect.

A new, simple and inexpensive kinetic catalytic spectrophotometric method for the determination of oxalate is described. The method is based on an activation effect of oxalate on a catalytic effect of iron(II) on the oxidation of iodide by bromate. The reaction is monitored by measuring the absorbance of triiodide ion at lambda max = 352 nm. A calibration graph was obtained from 0.10 - 7.0 microg cm(-3) of oxalate with a detection limit of 0.080 microg cm(-3). The standard deviations for ten replicate determinations of 0.50, 1.0 and 5.0 microg cm(-3) of oxalate were 4.0, 2.6 and 1.8%, respectively. The applicability of the method was demonstrated by the determination of oxalate ion in real samples.     

Extractive spectrophotometric determination of tungsten(VI) using 3-hydroxy-2-(2'-thienyl)-4-oxo-4H-1-benzopyran

A simple, rapid, highly sensitive and selective spectrophotometric method for the determination of tungsten(VI) in trace amounts is developed using 3-hydroxy-2-(2'-thienyl)-4-oxo-4H-1-benzopyran (HTB) as a reagent for the complexation of metal ion and extracting the 1:2 (metal:ligand) complex into dichloromethane from 0.2 M HCl solution. It obeys Beer's law in the range 0-2.8 microg Wml(-1) with molar absorptivity and Sandell's sensitivity at 415 nm as 6.45 x 10(4) L mol(-1) cm(-1) and 0.0029 microg W(VI) cm(-2), respectively. The method is free from the interference of a large number (39) of elements and handles satisfactorily the analysis of various samples of varying complexity.     

Copper(II)-catalysed oxidative coupling reaction of 3-hydroxyacetanilide with 3-methyl-2-benzothiazolinone hydrazone for the spectrophotometric determination of traces of copper(II)

A spectrophotometric method is developed for the determination of traces of copper(II), based on the catalytic oxidative coupling reaction of 3-hydroxyacetanilide with 3-methyl-2-benzothiazolinone hydrazone in the presence of ammonia and hydrochloric acid. Beer's law is obeyed in the copper(II) concentration range of 0.008-0.16 microg mL(-1), and the molar absorptivity at 530 nm is 2.5x10(5) L mol(-1) cm(-1). The Sandell's sensitivity of the product is 0.000254 microg cm(-2). The optimum reaction conditions and other important analytical parameters have been investigated. The proposed method is applied to the analysis of water and soil samples and the results are compared with the literature method.