Determination of cobalt(II), copper(II) and iron(II) by ion chromatography with chemiluminescence detection

An optimized flow-injection manifold for the chemiluminescence determination of cobalt(II), copper(II), iron(II) and chromium(III) by their catalytic effect on the luminol reaction is described. Detection limits are 0.0006, 0.08, 0.3 and 0.1 ng ml^?1, respectively. The suppression effect of several carboxylic acids on the emission intensity is discussed. A procedure for the separation of cobalt(II), copper(II) and iron(II) on a low-capacity, silica-based cation-exchange column, using 5 mM oxalic acid at pH 4.2 as the mobile phase and post-column detection via the luminol reaction, is also described. Detection limits for cobalt(II) and copper(II) are 0.01 and 5 ng ml^?1, respectively.