The separation of W(V) from HCl-KSCN medium on polyurethane foam sorbents for its spectrophotometric determination in steels and silicates

A simple procedure for selective sorption of tungsten is described. The method involves reduction of W(VI) to W(V) with tin(II) chloride (2%, w/v) at 8-9M hydrochloric acid, formation of the W(V)-SCN complex with 0.2M KSCN and its sorption on polyurethane foam within 20 min. The sorbed complex is then eluted with acidified acetone (1 ml of 1M hydrochloric acid and 8 ml of acetone) followed by addition of 1 ml of 0.1M KSCN to the eluent. The method has been applied to the spectrophotometric determination of tungsten in steels and silicates by measuring the absorbance of the eluted solution at 400 nm. Beer's law is obeyed for the range 0.1-12 mug W/ml. Other elements, e.g., Co(III) (50 mug/ml), Cu(II) (10 mug/ml), Ti(IV) (20 mug/ml), V(V) (10 mug/ml) and Mo(VI) (0.5 mug/ml) have no effect on the method. Interference of copper, up to 100 mug/ml has been eliminated by masking with thiourea and that due to molybdenum by prior separation with thioglycollic acid on PUF. The method has been verified with standard samples.