Ferrozine colorimetry and reverse flow injection analysis (rFIA) based method for the determination of total iron in aqueous solutions at nanomolar concentrations

Iron is one of the most microbiologically and chemically important metals in natural waters. The biogeochemical cycling of iron is significantly influenced by the redox cycling of Fe(II) and Fe(III). Because of the unique chemistry of iron, it is often needed to analyze iron at nano-molar concentrations. This article describes a reverse flow injection analysis (rFIA) based method with ferrozine spectrophotometric detection to quantify total iron concentration in stream water at nanomolar concentrations. The rFIA system has a 0.65 nM detection limit and a linear dynamic range up to 1.40 μM for the total iron analysis. The detection limit was achieved using a 1.0 m long liquid waveguide capillary flow cell, 1.50 m long knotted reaction coil, 87.50 μL injection loop and a miniature fiber optics spectrophotometer. The optimized colorimetric reagent has 1.0 mM ferrozine, 0.1 M ascorbic acid, 1.0 mM citric acid and 0.10 M acetate buffer adjusted to pH 4.0. The best sample flow rate is 2.1 mL min^?1 providing a sample throughput of more than 15 samples h^?1. The linear dynamic range of the method can be adjusted by changing the volume of the injection loop. The rFIA manifold was assembled exclusively from commercially available components.     

Determination of Fe(II), Fe(III) and Fetotal in thermal water by ion chromatography spectrophotometry (IC-Vis)

Determination of iron speciation in water is one of the major challenges in environmental analytical chemistry. Here, we present and discuss a method for sampling and analysis of dissolved Fe(II), Fe(III), and Fe_total concentrations in natural thermal water covering a wide range of temperature, pH, chemical composition, and redox conditions. Various methods were tried in the collection, preservation, and storage of natural thermal water samples for the Fe(II) and Fe(III) determinations, yet the resultant Fe speciation determined was often found to be significantly affected by the methodology applied. Due to difficulties in preserving accurate Fe speciation in natural samples for later laboratory analysis, a field-deployed on-site method using ion-chromatography and spectrophotometry was developed and tested. The IC-Vis method takes advantage of ion chromatographic separation of Fe(II) and Fe(III), followed by post-column colour reaction and spectrophotometric detection, thus allowing analysis of Fe(II) and Fe(III) in a single 15-minute run. Additionally, Fe_total can be determined after sample oxidation. The analytical detection limits are ~2 µg L^?1 (LOD) using 200–1000 µL injection volumes and depend on the blank and reagent quality. The power of this method relies on the capability to directly determine a wide range of absolute and relative concentrations of Fe(II) and Fe(III) in the field. The field-deployed IC-Vis method was applied for the determination of Fe(II) and Fe(III) concentrations in natural thermal water with discharge temperatures ranging from 12°C to 95°C, pH between 2.46 and 9.75, and Fe_total concentrations ranging from a few μg L^?c up to 8.3 mg L^?1.     

Flow Injection Spectrophotometric Determination of N-Acetylcysteine and Captopril Employing Prussian Blue Generation Reaction

A novel flow injection procedure to determine N-acetylcysteine and captopril in pharmaceutical formulations is proposed. The flow procedure developed was based on oxidation of the analytes by Fe(III) in acidic medium and subsequent reaction of the Fe(II) generated with excess hexacyanoferrate(III) to produce soluble Prussian blue (KFe[Fe(CN)₆]) measured at 700 nm. Detection limits of 1.0 × 10^?5 mol L^?1 and 3.0 × 10^?5 mol L^?1 for N-acetylcysteine and captopril, respectively, were found. The sample throughput was 70 h^?1 for both analytes and the results obtained were in agreement at a 95% confidence level with those obtained using reference methods.     

Fe-lactate mediated formation of ZnO sols and self-organized nanorod assemblies

Hot ethanolic mixtures of hydrated Zn(II)- and Fe(II)-carboxylates (acetate and lactate) react to form yellow-orange colored Fe(III)_xZn_yO_zOH_w heteroclusters showing pronounced electronic resonances in the optical UV absorption spectra. On the addition of LiOH to these polymolecular sols, stable nanoparticulate Fe(III)–ZnO colloids are formed. During colloidal growth, 2–4 nm sized weakly crystallized Wurtzite nanoparticles are exclusively formed even in the presence of high Fe content up to 20 at.%. The presence of Fe(III) in the ZnO condensation process retards the nanoparticle growth and blocks the thermal crystallization and size enhancement up to 250 °C. The produced 0.5 M Fe(III)–ZnO sols are useful for film formation processes. From atomic force microscopy-AFM, scanning electron microscopy-SEM and X-ray diffraction-XRD studies, we note important differences in shape and morphology of the thermally annealed Fe(III)–ZnO layers depending on the iron carboxylate employed. Surprisingly, Fe(II)-lactate derived coatings are carrying vertically oriented cone-shaped aggregates composed of 60–120 nm long primary nanorods. Contrary, Fe(II)-acetate based synthesis gave sand-dune like film morphologies containing spherical 12 nm sized nanocrystallites. All film samples possess mesoporosity with pore size ranging between 5 and 20 nm.     

Determination of total iron in fresh waters using flow injection with potassium permanganate chemiluminescence detection

A flow injection method is described for the determination of iron in fresh water based on potassium permanganate chemiluminescence detection via oxidation of formaldehyde in aqueous hydrochloric acid. Total iron concentrations are determined after reducing Fe(III) to Fe(II) using hydroxylamine hydrochloride. The detection limit (three standard deviations of blank) is 1.0 nM, with a sample throughput of 120 h⁻¹. The calibration graph was linear over the range (2–10) × 10⁻⁷ M (r ² = 0.9985) with relative standard deviations (n = 5) in the range 1.0–2.3%. The effect of interfering cations (Ca(II), Mg(II), Zn(II), Ni(II), Co(II), Fe(III), Mn(II), Pb(II), and Cu(II)) and common anions (Cl⁻, SO ₄ ²⁻ , PO ₄ ³⁻ , NO ₃ ⁻ , NO ₂ ⁻ , I⁻, F⁻, and SO ₃ ²⁻ ) was studied at their maximum admissible concentrations in fresh water. The method was applied to fresh-water samples from the Quetta Valley, and the results obtained (0.04 ± 0.001–0.11 ± 0.01 mg/L Fe(II)) were in reasonable agreement with those obtained using the spectrophotometric reference method (0.05 ± 0.01–0.12 ± 0.02 mg/L Fe(II)). The text was submitted by the authors in English.     

Electrodeposition and stripping voltammetry of arsenic(III) and arsenic(V) on a carbon black–polyethylene composite electrode in the presence of iron ions

In this work, a new sensor is proposed for the stripping voltammetric determination (anodic stripping voltammetry—ASV) of total arsenic(V) or arsenic(III). The sensor is based on an Fe-modified carbon composite electrode containing 30 % carbon black–high-pressure polyethylene (CB/PE). The modification with iron is achieved by the addition of Fe(III) or Fe(II) ions to the sample solution and co-electrodeposition of iron and arsenic on the CB/PE electrode. In anodic stripping voltammetry, two peaks are observed: an Fe peak at ?0.45 or ?0.29 V and a peak at 0.12?±?0.07 V which depends on the arsenic concentration and corresponds to the As(0) → As(III) oxidation, as is the case with other solid electrodes. The optimum conditions proposed for ASV determination of As(V) and As(III) in solutions in the presence of dissolved oxygen are the following: the background electrolyte is 0.005 M HCl containing 0.5–1 mg/?L Fe(III) for As(V) and containing 1.0–1.5 mg/?L Fe(III) for As(III), respectively; E _dep?=??2.3 V; rest period at ?0.10 V for 3–5 s before the potential sweep from ?0.2 to +0.4 V; scan rate is 120 mV/?s. The detection limit (LOD, t?=?120 s) for As(III) and As(V) is 0.16 and 0.8 μg/?L, respectively. Various hypotheses on the effect of Fe ions and atoms on the electrodeposition and dissolution of arsenic are considered. The new method of determination of As(III) and As(V) differs from known analogues by its simplicity, low cost, and easy accessibility of the electrode material. It allows the voltammetric determination of total arsenic after chemical reduction of all its forms to As(III) or after their oxidation to As(V).     

Preparation of single-phase α-Fe(III) oxide nanoparticles by thermal decomposition. Influence of the precursor on properties

In this research, we present an experimental procedure to prepare single-phase α-Fe(III) oxide nanoparticles by thermal decomposition of five different precursors including: iron(III) citrate; Fe(C₆H₅O₇), iron(III) acetylacetonate; Fe(C₅H₇O₂)₃, and iron(III) oxalate; Fe(C₂O₄)₃, iron(III) acetate; Fe(C₂H₃O₂)₃, and the thermal curves obtained were analyzed. The influence of the thermal decomposition of precursors on the formation α-Fe₂O₃ was studied by differential thermal gravimetry and thermogravimetry. The synthesized powders were characterized by using X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. High quality iron oxide nanoparticles with narrow size distribution and average particle size between ca. 2 and 30 nm have been obtained. It was found that the iron precursors affect the temperatures of the pure α-Fe₂O₃ nanoparticle formation with different diameters; iron(III) citrate (29 nm), iron(III) acetylacetonate (37 nm), and iron(III) oxalate (24 nm).     

Fabrication and characterisation of gold nano-particle modified polymer monoliths for flow-through catalytic reactions and their application in the reduction of hexacyanoferrate

Polymer monoliths in capillary (100 μm i.d.) and polypropylene pipette tip formats (vol: 20 μL) were modified with gold nano-particles (AuNP) and subsequently used for flow-through catalytic reactions. Specifically, methacrylate monoliths were modified with amine-reactive monomers using a two-step photografting method and then reacted with ethylenediamine to provide amine attachment sites for the subsequent immobilisation of 4 nm, 7 nm or 16 nm AuNP. This was achieved by flushing colloidal suspensions of gold nano-particles through each aminated polymer monolith which resulted in a multi-point covalent attachment of gold via the lone pair of electrons on the nitrogen of the free amine groups. Field emission scanning electron microscopy and scanning capacitively coupled conductivity detection was used to characterise the surface coverage of AuNP on the monoliths. The catalytic activity of AuNP immobilised on the polymer monoliths in both formats was then demonstrated using the reduction of Fe(III) to Fe(II) by sodium borohydride as a model reaction by monitoring the reduction in absorbance of the hexacyanoferrate (???) complex at 420 nm. Catalytic activity was significantly enhanced on monoliths modified with smaller AuNP with almost complete reduction (95 %) observed when using monoliths agglomerated with 7 nm AuNPs.

Simultaneous determination of seven metal ions in water samples by solid-phase extraction on polyacrylonitrile activated carbon fibres

A new solid-phase extraction method utilising polyacrylonitrile activated carbon fibres (PAN-ACFs) as adsorbent was developed for the preconcentration of trace metal ions prior to their determination by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). The PAN-ACFs oxidised with nitric acid were characterised by FT-IR, XRD, SEM and BET analysis. Then the resulting PAN-ACFs were used as solid-phase adsorbent for simultaneously determination of trace Al(III), Be(II), Bi(III), Cr(III), Cu(II), Fe(III) and Pb(II) ions in aqueous solutions. The influences of the analytical parameters on the recoveries of the studied ions were investigated. The optimum experimental conditions of the proposed method were pH: 6.0; eluent concentration and volume: 3.0 mL of 1.5 mol L^?1 nitric acid; flow rates of sample and eluent solution: 1.5 mL min^?1. The preconcentration factors were found to be 67 for Al(III), Bi(III); 83 for Cr(III), Cu(II), Fe(III) and 50 for Be(II), Pb(II). The precision of this method was in range of 1.5%~3.5% and the detection limit of this metal ions was between 0.06~1.50 μg L^?1. The developed method was validated by the analysis of a certified reference sample and successfully applied to the determination of trace metal ions in water samples with satisfactory results.     

Sorption of iron(III)–alginate complexes on cellulose fibres

Multivalent ions take a significant role in the sorption of soluble polysaccharides on solid cellulose substrates and thus demonstrate an important principle in structural polysaccharide organisation. Sorption of Fe(III)–alginate complexes on lyocell fibres as model for the insoluble cellulose matrix has been studied between pH 3–13, at 30 and 60 °C. Sorption maximum of the Fe(III)–alginate complex was observed at pH 3 where the sorbed amounts of alginate and iron were 6,600 and 85 mg iron per kg cellulose respectively. Under the experimental conditions used, a concentration of 0.05 mM Fe(III) is sufficient to achieve surface sorption of Fe(III)–alginate complex. The alginate sorption exhibited minor dependence on molar ratio of Fe(III) to alginate. In environmental scanning electron microscopy no deposition of Fe-hydroxides on the fiber surface was detected. The thickness of the adsorbed Fe(III)–alginate layer on the fiber surface was estimated with 12–22 nm. Tensile strength and abrasion resistance of Fe(III)–alginate treated fibers were not reduced through the sorption treatment. Alginate modified cellulose is of interest as material for medical application, as sorbent and textile finish.     

Sequential injection spectrophotometric determination of iron as Fe(II) in multi-vitamin preparations using 1,10-phenanthroline as complexing agent

A sequential injection analysis (SIA) system is proposed for the determination of iron (II). Fe(II) was determined by SIA based on the reaction between 1,10-phenanthroline and iron (II), yielding an orange–red colour complex with absorption maximum at 512 nm. The method involved aspiration of 187 μl sample/standard zone followed by a zone of a reagent solution containing 140 μl of 7.8 × 10⁻⁴ mol l⁻¹ 1,10-phenanthroline into a carrier stream to be stacked inside a holding coil and flow reversed through a reaction coil to a detector. The optimum condition was evaluated and the calibration curve is linear over a range of 0.25 to 5.0 mg l⁻¹ of Fe(II) with detection limit of 18 μg l⁻¹. A sample throughput of 40 h⁻¹ was established. This technique is found to be simple, accurate, reproducible and sensitive. The proposed method was successfully applied for the determination of total iron as Fe(II) in pharmaceutical products (multi-vitamin tablets) and is especially useful for the determination of iron (II) in tablets with lower iron (II) contents. The results were found to be in good agreement with the results obtained by manual UV/Vis spectrophotometry and flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS) and with claimed values by the manufacturers.     

On-Line Solid Phase Extraction and Spectrophotometric Detection with Flow Technique for the Determination of Nanomolar Level Ammonium in Seawater Samples

The determination of low-level ammonium in seawaters suffers from low sensitivity and high contamination; therefore, it is desirable to develop highly sensitive methods for automatic measurements. A highly sensitive and automated flow technique system for nanomolar level ammonium measurement is described. Reagents for Berthelot reaction were automatically added into seawater samples. After a 10 min reaction at 40°C, the formed indophenol blue compound was on-line extracted onto an Hydrophilic-Lipophilic Balance (HLB) cartridge. The enriched compound was rinsed with water and ethanol solution (30%, v/v) and, in turn, eluted with an eluent containing 30% (v/v) ethanol and 5.0 mM of NaOH, and determined with a spectrophotometer at 640 nm. Parameter, including extraction conditions, reagent concentrations, pH, temperature, and reaction time, were optimized. Under the optimized conditions, the detection limit was 3.5 nM and the linear range was 0–428 nM. The relative standard deviations were 5.7% (n = 8) for 44.6 nM standard solution and less than 6.0% (n = 3–5) for samples within concentrations of about 52.4–288.7 nM; the recovery was in the range 93.6 to 108.5%. The sample throughput was 3 h^?1. The proposed method provides a simple, cheap, and automatic way to determine ammonium in seawater samples without complicated sample treatment.     

Flow injection spectrophotometric determination of ascorbic acid in soft drinks and beer

Two spectrophotometric methods, a photochemical and a non-photochemical, for the determination of ascorbic acid in soft drinks and beer using a flow-injection system are proposed. The non-photochemical method is based on the redox reaction that takes place between ascorbic acid and Fe(III), yielding dehydroascorbic acid and Fe(II). Fe(II) reacts with 1,10-phenantroline, originating the reddish orange Fe(phen)₃ ²⁺ complex (ferroin). This complex is spectrophotometrically monitored at 512 nm, and the signal is directly related to the concentration of ascorbic acid in the sample. The photochemical method has the same basis, nevertheless, uses the irradiation with visible light to enhance the redox reaction and so achieve higher sensitivities in the analysis. The non-photochemical method shows a linear range between 5 and 80 μg mL^?1, with a relative standard deviation of 1.6% (n = 11), a detection limit of 2.7 μg mL^?1 and a sample throughput of ¶60 samples h^?1. The photochemical method shows a linear range between 1 and 80 μg mL^?1, with a relative standard deviation of 1.0% (n = 11), a detection limit of 0.5 μg mL^?1 and a sample throughput of 40 samples h^?1.     

Adsorption-photometric determination of iron using silica with nitroso-R salt and nitroso-N salt functional groups

Adsorbents based on silica sequentially modified by polyhexamethylene guanidine and nitroso-R salt or nitroso-N salt are proposed for the preconcentration and adsorption-photometric determination of iron. It is shown that these adsorbents quantitatively recovered Fe(III) at pH 3.5–4.0 and Fe(II) at pH 4.5–7.0. In the adsorption of Fe(III) and Fe(II), intensely colored green complexes formed on the adsorbent surface. Based on the absence of signals in EPR spectra, it was concluded that iron in the oxidation state +2 was included into surface complexes with nitroso-R salt or nitroso-N salt. When Fe(III) interacted with nitroso-R salt or nitroso-N salt immobilized on the adsorbent surface, it was reduced to Fe(II). Diffuse reflection spectra of the surface complexes of iron(II) were broad bands with maxima at 720 and 710 nm. Procedures of the adsorption-photometric determination of iron in natural waters and snow samples were developed with the limit of detection of 0.05 μg of iron per 0.2 g of the adsorbent.     

Zero-Order and Third-Derivative Spectrophotometric Determination of Iron(III) with 4-(2-Pyridylazo)-Resorcinol in the Presence of N-Hexadecylpyridinium Chloride

Abstract

The complex formation reaction between iron(III) and 4-(2-pyridylazo) resorcinol(PAR) in the presence of various water soluble surfactants((N-hexadecylpyridinium chloride (HPC), poly(vinylalcohol)(PVA), sodium dodecylsulfate(SDS), sodium N-lauroylsarcosine(SL)) alone or in combination at weakly acidic media was systematically investigated. An improved and more sensitive spectrophotometric method for the determination of iron was proposed by zero-order and third-derivative spectrophotometry using the PAR-iron(III)-HPC ternary complex system at about pH 5.2. The calibration curve was rectilinear in the ranges of 0 – 15.0 μg iron(III) in a final 10-ml on the zero-order spectrophotometry. Also, upon the third-derivative spectrophotometry, Beer's law was obeyed in the range of 0 – 8.0 μg iron(III)/10 ml by measuring the distance between the absorbance peak(λ₁ = 527 nm) and the valley (λ₂ = 560 nm). The apparent molar absorptivity was 4.8 × 10⁴ 1 mol^?1 cm^?1 in zero-order spectrophotometry, and 1.36 × 10⁵ mol^?1 cm^?1 in third-derivative spectrophotometry. The effect of foreign ions was decreased within ½ – ¼-fold in comparison with the method in the presence of PVA without HPC. Especially, the third-derivative spectrophotometric method was sensitive and selective, and made possible to assay mixed sample solution containing iron(III) and copper(II), etc.     

Enhanced sensitivity in flow injection analysis using a long pathlength liquid waveguide capillary flow cell for spectrophotometric detection.

Incorporation of a liquid waveguide capillary flow cell into a flow injection instrument enhances the sensitivity of flow injection analysis with spectrophotometric detection by two orders of magnitude. Nitrite determination at nM levels has been used to demonstrate the feasibility of this novel technique for trace analysis. Combining the long pathlength spectrophotometry with flow injection analysis, this technique has advantages of low detection limit, good precision and high sample throughput.     

Metal ion capillary zone electrophoresis with direct UV detection: Separation of metal cyanide complexes

Mixtures of cyanide complexes of iron(III), copper(I), iron(II), nickel(II), chromium(III), mercury(II), palladium(II), silver(I), cadmium(II), zinc(II), cobalt(II), and cobalt(III) have been separated by capillary zone electrophoresis using a fused silica capillary and 20 mM phosphate buffers containing 1–2 mM sodium cyanide. The complexes were detected by direct UV absorpticn at 214 nm; detection limits are in the mid ppb range for all metals except cadmium and zinc. The different detectability of various metal cyanide complexes enables the application of the method to the analysis of complex matrices such as cyanide plating bath solutions.     

Spectrophotometric determination of iron(III) and total iron by sequential injection analysis technique

A procedure for determination of concentrations of iron(III) and total iron by sequential injection analysis is described. The method is based on the strong blue-colored complexes formed between iron(III) and tiron. The absorbance of the complexes is measured spectrophotometrically at 635 nm. Oxidation of iron(II) and masking of interfering fluoride is simultaneously done by injecting one zone of hydrogen peroxide and one of thorium(IV) between the sample and reagent zones. Concentration of iron(III) and total iron, in the range 0.002–0.026 M, in diluted samples from a pickle bath were determined. The relative standard deviation was 0.4% (n=7). The method was also used in a pilot plant of a zinc process for determination of iron(III) in the range 0.2–3.0 g l⁻¹. The sample throughput is approximately 17 samples per hour, including three repetitive determinations of each sample.     

Determination of some trace metal ions in various samples by FAAS after separation/preconcentration by copper(II)-BPHA coprecipitation method

A separation/preconcentration procedure based on the coprecipitation of Pb(II), Fe(III), Co(II), Cr(III) and Zn(II) ions with copper(II)-N-benzoyl-N-phenyl-hydroxylamine complex (Cu-BPHA) has been developed. The analytical variables including pH, amount of BPHA, amount of copper(II) as carrier element, and sample volume were investigated for the quantitative recoveries of the elements. No interfering effects were observed from the concomitant ions when present in real samples. The recoveries of the analyte ions were in the range of 95–100%. The detection limits (3 s) for Pb(II), Co(II), Fe(III), Cr(III) and Zn(II) ions were found to be 2.3, 0.7, 0.7, 0.3 and 0.4 µg L^?1, respectively. The validation of the procedure was performed by the analysis of CRM (SRM NIST-1547 peach leaves and LGC6019 river water) standard reference materials. The method was applied to the determination of the analytes in real samples including natural waters, hair, urine, soil, sediment and peritoneal fluids samples etc., and good results were obtained (relative standard deviations <4%, recoveries >95%).     

Flow Injection Spectrophotometric Determination of Dipyrone in Pharmaceutical Formulations Using Fe(III) as Reagent

A flow injection spectrophotometric procedure with symmetric merging zones for dipyrone determination in pharmaceutical formulations is proposed. The determination is based on the formation of a blue complex (monitored at a wavelength of 642 nm) yield in the complexation reaction of dipyrone with Fe(III) in acid medium. Under optimum conditions, a calibration curve was obtained from 3.5 to 281 mg L^?1 with a detection limit of 2.8 mg L^?1 and the samples throughput was 80 h^?1. The analytical results obtained for commercial formulation samples by applying the proposed method were in good agreement with labeled values and those obtained by a comparative procedure at a 95% confidence level.