Detection and spectrophotometric determination of EDTA with cobalt(II) and phosphomolybdic acid in urine and detergents

A simple, rapid, sensitive and selective method for the microgram detection and spectrophotometric determination of EDTA in water, human urine and detergents, based on its reaction with Co(II) and phosphomolybdic acid at pH 0.5–2.0 is reported. Absorbance is measured against Co(II)–phosphomolybdic acid reference solution at 750 nm. The effect of time, temperature, pH and Co(II) or phosphomolybdic acid concentration is studied, and optimum operating conditions are established. Beer's law is applicable in the concentration range 0.3–1.9 μg ml⁻¹ of 10⁻⁵M EDTA. Its detection limit is 0.14 μg in the solution phase and 0.03 μg in the resin phase. The relative standard deviation is ±0.13 μg. Ag(I), Zn(II), Cu(II), Ni(II), Pb(II), Cd(II), Ca(II), Mg(II), Fe(III), Cr(III), U(VI), chloride, nitrite, phosphate, oxalate, borate and amino acids do not interfere.     

Polarographic determination of 9,10-anthraquinone and its 1,2- 1,4- and 1,8-dihydroxy derivatives in chloroform Application to the analysis of papers and black liquors

The polarographic behaviour of 9,10-anthraquinone (I) and some of its dihydroxy derivatives, such as alizarin (II), quinizarin (III) and chrisazin (IV) has been studied in the presence of proton donors of HA and HB⁺ type. After optimization of conditions for reversible reduction of the anthraquinones, various polarographic techniques were used for the determination of anthraquinones in chloroform. In the dc method, the relative standard deviation for the determination of 1mM concentrations was about 1.5%. In the ac method, the detection limit was 0.1 μg/ml and the relative standard deviation for determination at the 0.2 μg/ml level was 2%. The proposed methods are usable for the simultaneous determination of I and II, II and III, II and IV, and have been applied to the determination of 9,10-anthraquinone in papers and black liquors.     

Atomic absorption spectrophotometric determination of trace copper in waters, aluminium foil and tea samples after preconcentration with 1-nitroso-2-naphthol-3,6-disulfonic acid on Ambersorb 572

An atomic absorption spectrophotometric method for the determination of trace copper after adsorption of its 1-nitroso-2-naphthol-3,6-disulfonic acid chelate on Ambersorb 572 has been developed. This chelate is adsorbed on the adsorbent in the pH range 1–8. The copper chelate is eluted with 5 ml of 0.1 mol l⁻¹ potassium cyanide and determined by flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS). The selectivity of the proposed procedure was also evaluated. Results show that iron(III), zinc(II), manganese(II) and cobalt(II) at the 50 μg l⁻¹ level and sodium(I), potassium(I), magnesium(II), calcium(II) and aluminium(III) at the 1000 μg l⁻¹ level did not interfere. A high enrichment factor, 200, was obtained. The detection limit (3σ) of copper was 0.34 μg l⁻¹. The precision of the method, evaluated by seven replicate analyses of solutions containing 5 μg of copper was satisfactory and the relative standard deviation was 1.7%. The adsorption of copper onto Ambersorb 572 can formally be described by a Langmuir equation with a maximum adsorption capacity of 14.3 mg g⁻¹ and a binding constant of 0.00444 l mg⁻¹. The accuracy of the method is confirmed by analysing tomatoes leaves (NIST 1573a) and lead base alloy (NBS 53e). The results demonstrated good agreement with the certified values. This procedure was applied to the determination of copper in waters (tap, river and thermal waters), aluminium foil and tea samples.     

Use of silica gel chemically modified with zirconium phosphate for preconcentration and determination of lead and copper by flame atomic absorption spectrometry

An analytical method using silica gel chemically modified with zirconium (IV) phosphate for preconcentration of lead and copper, in a column system, and their sequential determination by flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS), was developed. Sample solutions are passed through a glass column packed with 100 mg of the sorbent material, at pH 4.5, and lead and copper are eluted with 1.0 mol l⁻¹ HNO₃ at a flow rate of 2.0 ml min⁻¹. The extraction of copper is affected by Fe(II), Mn(II), Zn(II), Ni(II) and Co(II) while only Fe(II) interferes in the lead determination. These interferences may be overcome with an appropriate addition of a KI or NaF solution. An enrichment factor of 30 was obtained for both metals. While the limits of detection (3σ) were 6.1 and 1.1 μg l⁻¹, for Pb and Cu, respectively, the limits of determination were 16.7 and 3.3 μg l⁻¹. The precision expressed as relative standard deviation (R.S.D.) obtained for 3.3 μg l⁻¹ of Cu and 16.7 μg l⁻¹ of Pb were 4.3 and 4.7%, respectively, calculated from ten measurements. The proposed method was evaluated with reference material and was applied for the determination of lead and copper in industrial and river waters.     

Rapid and selective chelatometric titration of aluminium in non-ferrous alloys

A rapid chelatometric method for the determination of Al (4–20%) in magnesium, copper and chromium-aluminium-iron alloys is proposed. HEDTA is used as titrant and Zn solution as back-titrant, with hydrazidazol as indicator. Mn(II), Cu(II), Cd, Zn, Pb, Co(II), Ni, Hg(II), Fe(III), Bi, Cr(III), Sb(III), Ce(III), La, Sn(IV), Ti(IV), Zr and Mo(VI) do not interfere. High selectivity is achieved by a combination of group separation, masking and interference correction. The coefficient of variation varies from 0.2 to 1%.     

Rapid Solvent Extraction of Tin(IV) with High Molecular Weight Amine from Hydrochloric Acid Solution

A novel method has been developed for the solvent extraction of tin(IV) from 8 M hydrochloric acid with 4% N‐n‐octylaniline. Tin(IV) from the organic phase was determined spectrophotometrically with pyrocatechol violet at 550 nm. Extraction was found to be quantitative in the range of 7–10 M hydrochloric acid. When the concentration of N‐n‐octylaniline was varied from 0.05–20% in xylene, it showed that optimum concentration was > 3%. Amongst diluents like benzene and xylene, toluene was found to be an effective diluent. Effect of shaking time, concentration of metal ion, and salting out agents was studied. Tolerance limits of various diverse ions were determined by masking interfering cations. Tin(IV) was separated from associated elements in its binary mixture with Se(IV), Sb(III), Bi(III), Pb(II), Au(III), Cu(II) and Zn(II) and from its ternary mixtures with Sb(III), Bi(III) and Cu(II), Au(III). The proposed method was applied for separation and determination of tin(IV) in tin bearing alloys and foodstuffs.     

Copper determination in natural water samples by using FAAS after preconcentration onto amberlite XAD-2 loaded with calmagite

A procedure for separation and preconcentration of trace amounts of copper in natural water samples, has been proposed. It is based on the adsorption of copper(II) ions onto a column of Amberlite XAD-2 resin loaded with calmagite reagent. This way amounts of copper within the range from 0.0125 to 25.0 μg, in a sample volume of 25 to 250 ml, and pH from 3.7 to 10.0 was concentrated as calmagite complex in a column of 0.50 g of Amberlite XAD-2 resin. Copper (II) ion was desorpted by using 5.0 ml of 2 mol l⁻¹ hydrochloric acid. Detection and determination limits of the proposed procedure for 250 ml sample volume were 0.15 and 0.50 μg l⁻¹, respectively. Selectivity test showed that (in the indicated concentration), calcium(II) (500 mg l⁻¹), magnesium(II) (500 mg l⁻¹), strontium(II) (50 mg l⁻¹), iron(III) (10 mg l⁻¹), nickel(II) (10 mg l⁻¹), cobalt(II) (10 mg l⁻¹), cadmium(II) (10 mg l⁻¹) and lead(II) (10 mg l⁻¹) did not interfere in copper determination by this procedure. Precision of the method, evaluated as the relative standard deviation by analyzing a series of seven replicates, was 2.42% for a copper mass of 1.0 μg in a sample volume of 100 ml. The accuracy of the proposed procedure was evaluated by means of copper determination in reference biological samples. The achieved results were in good agreement with certified values. The extractor system had a sorption capacity of 1.59 μmol of copper per gram of resin loaded with calmagite. The proposed procedure was applied for copper determination by FAAS in natural water samples. Samples were collected from different places of Salvador city, Bahia, Brazil. The achieved recovery, measured by the standard addition technique, showed that the proposed procedure had good accuracy. A good enrichment factor (50×) and simplicity are the main advantages in this analytical procedure.     

High-performance liquid chromatographic determination of uranium using solvent extraction and bis(salicylaldehyde) tetramethylethylenediimine as complexing reagent

The reagent bis(salicylaldehyde)tetramethylethylenediimine has been used for the determination of dioxouranium(VI), based on complexation in aqueous solution at pH 6, followed by extraction in chloroform and HPLC determination on a Hypersil ODS (3 μm) column. The complex was eluted with the ternary mixture methanol-acetonitrile-water (40:30:30, v/v/v), with UV detection at 260 nm. Oxovanadium(IV), iron(III), copper(II), cobalt(II), nickel(II) and palladium(II) were completely separated and did not interfere in the determination of uranium. The linear calibration range and detection limits have been obtained. The method has been applied to the determination of uranium together with copper, iron and nickel in mineral ore samples.     

Spectrophotometric determination of molybdenum by extraction of its thiosulphate complex

A simple and rapid spectrophotometric determination of molybdenum is described. The molybdenum thiosulphate complex is extracted into isoamyl alcohol from 1·0–1·5M hydrochloric acid containing 36–40 mg of Na₂S₂O₃·5H₂O per ml. The absorbance at λ_max = 475 nm obeys Beer's law over the range 0–32 μg of Mo per ml of solvent phase. Up to 5 mg/ml of Ti(IV), V(V), Cr(VI), Fe(III), Co(II), Ni(II), U(VI), W(VI), Sb(III), 1 mg/ml of Cu(II), Sn(II), Bi(V) and 10 μg/ml of Pt(IV) and Pd(II) do not interfere. Large amounts of complexing agents interfere. The method has been applied to analysis of synthetic and industrial samples.     

Ion-pair reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography for trace metal preconcentration followed by ion-interaction chromatography

Ion-interaction chromatography of Plasmocorinth B (a disulphonated azo dye) complexes of Co(III), Cu(II), Fe(III), Ga(III), In(III), Ni(II), V(V) and Zr(IV) was studied. The behaviour of two different reversed-phase C₁₈ columns (5 and 10 μm) was compared and an on-line enrichment procedure was developed following the optimization of eluent (pH, ligand concentration, ionic strength and organic modifier). The described technique, applied to the analysis of metal ions at μg/1 levels in natural waters, gave satisfactory precision and accuracy in comparison with inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopic results.     

Simultaneous derivative spectrophotometric determination of thorium and uranium in a micellar medium

Derivative photometric methods for trace analysis of Th(IV) and UO₂(II), and their simultaneous determination in mixtures using 5,8-dihydroxy-1,4-naphthoquinone in a micellar medium are reported. Molar absorptivity and Sandell's sensitivity of 1:2 Th(IV) and 1:1 UO₂(II) complexes at their λ_max, 614.5 nm and 637.0 nm are, 1.19 × 10⁴ 1/mol/cm and 1.12 × 10⁴ 1/mol/cm and 1.95 × 10⁻² μg/cm² and 2.13 × 10⁻² μg/cm² μg/cm², respectively. Calibration graph is linear over the range 9.28 × 10⁻²−18.56 μg/ml of Th(IV) and 9.52 × 10⁻²−19.04 μg/ml of UO₂(II). Though presence of Th(IV) and UO₂(II) causes interference in each others determination, 9.28 × 10⁻¹−9.28 μg/ml Th(IV) and 9.52 × 10⁻¹−9.52 μg/ml UO₂(II) when present together, can be simultaneously determined using derivative spectra.     

Simultaneous determination of Fe(II) and Fe(III) by kinetic spectrophotometric H-point standard addition method

The H-point standard addition method (HPSAM) for simultaneous determination of Fe(II) and Fe(III) is described. The method is based on the difference in the rate of complex formation of iron in two different oxidation states with Gallic acid (GA) at pH 5. Fe(II) and Fe(III) can be determined in the range of 0.02–4.50 μg ml⁻¹ and 0.05–5.00 μg ml⁻¹, respectively, with satisfactory accuracy and precision in the presence of other metal ions, which rapidly form complexes with GA under working conditions. The proposed method was successfully applied for simultaneous determination of Fe(II) and Fe(III) in several environmental and synthetic samples with different concentration ratios of Fe(II) and Fe(III).     

Determination of As(III) and total inorganic arsenic by flow injection hydride generation atomic absorption spectrometry

A simple procedure was developed for the direct determination of As(III) and As(V) in water samples by flow injection hydride generation atomic absorption spectrometry (FI–HG–AAS), without pre-reduction of As(V). The flow injection system was operated in the merging zones configuration, where sample and NaBH₄ are simultaneously injected into two carrier streams, HCl and H₂O, respectively. Sample and reagent injected volumes were of 250 μl and flow rate of 3.6 ml min⁻¹ for hydrochloric acid and de-ionised water. The NaBH₄ concentration was maintained at 0.1% (w/v), it would be possible to perform arsine selective generation from As(III) and on-line arsine generation with 3.0% (w/v) NaBH₄ to obtain total arsenic concentration. As(V) was calculated as the difference between total As and As(III). Both procedures were tolerant to potential interference. So, interference such as Fe(III), Cu(II), Ni(II), Sb(III), Sn(II) and Se(IV) could, at an As(III) level of 0.1 mg l⁻¹, be tolerated at a weight excess of 5000, 5000, 500, 100, 10 and 5 times, respectively. With the proposed procedure, detection limits of 0.3 ng ml⁻¹ for As(III) and 0.5 ng ml⁻¹ for As(V) were achieved. The relative standard deviations were of 2.3% for 0.1 mg l⁻¹ As(III) and 2.0% for 0.1 mg l⁻¹ As(V). A sampling rate of about 120 determinations per hour was achieved, requiring 30 ml of NaBH₄ and waste generation in order of 450 ml. The method was shown to be satisfactory for determination of traces arsenic in water samples. The assay of a certified drinking water sample was 81.7±1.7 μg l⁻¹ (certified value 80.0±0.5 μg l⁻¹).     

Simultaneous determination of arsenic, antimony and selenium by gas-phase diode array molecular absorption spectrometry, after preconcentration in a cryogenic trap

This paper describes a method for the simultaneous determination of As(III), Sb(III) and Se(IV) by combining hydride generation and gas phase molecular absorption spectrometry. A system for continuous hydride generation has been designed and developed, based on the use of a double process of gas-liquid separation, and optimal compromise operation conditions for the three compounds have been found. After generation, the hydrides are collected in a liquid nitrogen cryogenic trap, and then evaporated and driven to the flow cell of a diode array spectrophotometer, in which the transient signals over the 190–250 nm wavelength interval are measured. Under the recommended conditions (sample flow: 35 ml min⁻¹, 0.5 M HCl; reductor flow: 4 ml min⁻¹ of 4% NaBH₄, solution) linear response ranges above 50 μg 1⁻¹ for As(III), 30 μg 1⁻¹ for Sb(III) and 200 μg 1⁻¹ for Se(IV) are obtained with detection limits of 22 μg 1⁻¹, 15 μg 1⁻¹ and 65 μg 1⁻¹, respectively. Multiwavelength linear regression equations were used for the simultaneous determination of the three elements in different synthetic samples, with good precision and accuracy and to study simultaneously the interference from different chemical species for the three compounds. Results were similar to those obtained by other techniques using hydride generation.     

Potentiometric redox determination of gold(III) and its application to alloys

The simple potentiometric method proposed for the indirect determination of 1–10 mg of gold(III) is based on reduction to the metal with excess of cobalt(II) in the presence of 1,10-phenanthroline or 2,2'-bipyridine at pH 3 and 50°C, and titration of the unused cobalt(II) complex with iron(III) chloride solution. Many metal ions can be tolerated; Ag(I) and Pd(II) are eliminated by precipitation with sodium chloride and 1,10-phenanthroline or 2,2'-bipyridine, respectively, but Hg(II), Fe(III) and Pt(IV) interfere. The method is applied to the determination of gold in alloys.     

The spectrophotometric determination of vanadium after extraction as vanadium(III) ferronate by tribenzylamine

Vanadium(III) obtained by dithionite reduction of vanadium(V) can be extracted as its ferron complex with tribenzylamine in chloroform from 0.05 M sulphuric acid. Vanadium (0–5 μg ml^-1) is determined spectrophotometrically at 430 nm with a sensitivity of 0.0028 μg V cm^-2. Al(III), Co(II), Ni(II), Fe(II, III), Hg(II), Si(IV), Be(II), Mg(II), Ca(II), Sr(II), Ba(II), Cr(VI, III), W(VI), Zn(II), U(VI), Mn(II). Pb(II), Cu(II), Cd(II) and Th(IV) do not interfere; only Mo(VI), Ti(IV), Zr(IV). Bi(V) and Sn(II) interfere. A single determination takes only 7 min. The extracted complex is V^III (R-3H.TBA)₃ where R = C₉H₄O₄NSI. The method is satisfactory for the determination of vanadium in steels, alum and other samples without preliminary separations.     

Catalytic effect of copper on the hexacyanoferrate(III)-cyanide redox reaction-II catalytic determination of copper

A catalytic method for the determination of copper, based on the catalysis of the hexacyano-ferrate(III)-cyanide redox reaction, is proposed. Experimental conditions to achieve the lowest detection limit are selected from the kinetics of both the catalysed and the uncatalysed reactions. The experimental measurements can be made at room temperature without close control. The rate-constant method is the most sensitive and precise, whereas the fixed-concentration and fixed-time methods appear to be the most rapid for routine analysis. A detection limit of 1.3 ng/ml and a coefficient of variation of about 3% for the determination of 63 ng/ml can be achieved. The catalytic effect of copper seems to be highly specific. Lead(II), bismuth (III), antimony (III), iron (II), iron(III), chromium(III), lanthanum(III), cerium(III), titanium(IV), zirconium(IV) and uranium(VI) interfere by precipitation. Species such as tin(II), cobalt(II), manganese(II), sulphite and thiosulphite cause serious interference because they react with hexacyanoferrate(III). Chromate interferes by its colour. Suitable methods to avoid the interferences from antimony(III), iron(III), chromium(III), titanium(IV), zirconium(IV), uranium(VI) and chromate are proposed.     

Determination of platinum and palladium in strongly acid solution by means of flow injection analysis

Microamounts of Pt(II/IV) (0.25–800 μg/ml) and Pd(II) (5–600 μg/ml) in> 0.5 M hydrochloric acid can readily be determined by means of a simple FIA method based on the selective reaction of tin(II)chloride with these metals. The FIA method has a high linear dynamic range, and is relatively free from interferences of many transition metals, with the exception of Au and Rh; small amounts of other PGMs can be tolerated. Determination of Pt on a hydrogenation catalyst by this method compares well with that found by flame atomic absorption spectroscopy. By monitoring at two or more wavelengths, Pt and Pd can be determined in mixtures by this means, to yield a simple, cost-effective FIA method for possible on-line determinations and quality control of, in particular, Pt containing acidic refinery and other process streams.     

Spectrophotometric determination of chromium(III, VI) by use of chromium(III, VI)-Chrome AzurolS-cetylpyridinium bromide-hydroxylamine hydrochloride-zinc(II) system

This paper shows that the sensitivity of the Cr(III, VI)—Chrome Azurol S (CAS)-cetylpyridinium bromide (CPB)—hydroxylamine hydrochloride system can be increased and the wavelength of maximum absorption slightly shifted by addition of zinc(II) and that the analytical data are practically identical for both Cr(III) and Cr(VI), indicating that under the conditions used both initial oxidation states of chromium yield the same final oxidation state, Cr(III). On the basis of the Cr(III, VI)—CAS—CPB—NH₂OH·HCl—Zn systems a new, highly sensitive and selective method for spectrophotometric determination of microamounts of Cr(III, VI) has been developed, with molar absorptivity of 1.27 × 10⁵ 1. mole⁻¹ . cm⁻¹ for the complex at 620 nm and linear calibration up to 0.4 μg/ml chromium. Various foreign ions do not interfere. The method can be applied to direct determination of chromium in steels.     

A potentiometric study of the oxidation of cobalt(II) with gold(III) chloride in presence of 1,10 phenanthroline or 2,2'-bipyridine : A new titration of cobalt (II) and its application to nickel-base alloys

The redox reaction between cobalt(II) and gold(III) chloride in the presence of 1.10-phenanthroline or 2,2'-bipyridine was studied, and a titration of the cobalt(II) complex with a gold(III) chloride solution was developed. A 4-fold amount of 1,10-phenanthroline or 2,2'-bipyridine was necessary for rapid quantitative reaction; the permissible pH range was 1.5–5. The oxidation of the cobalt(II) complex proceeds rapidly at 40–50°C, and a direct potentiometric titration was possible. The following maximum errors were obtained: 3.3% for 0.2–1.0 mg Co, 2.0% for 1–5 mg Co, and 0.70% for 10–40 mg Co. The following ions did not interfere: Ni(II), Zn(II), Pb(II), Cd(II), Mn(II), Fe(II), Cr(III), Al(III), Th(IV), Se(IV), Ti(IV), U(VI), Mo(VI), SO^2-₄ and PO^3-₄. Even small quantities of silver(I), copper(II), palladium(II), mercury(II)and iron(III) interfered. The method was applied to the determination of high cobalt contents in high-temperature nickel-base alloys.