The use of a polymer inclusion membrane in flow injection analysis for the on-line separation and determination of zinc

This paper reports the first use of a polymer inclusion membrane (PIM) for on-line separation in flow injection analysis (FIA) involving simultaneous extraction and back-extraction. The FIA system containing the PIM separation module was used for the determination of Zn(II) in aqueous samples in the presence of Mg(II), Ca(II), Cd(II), Co(II), Ni(II), Cu(II), and Fe(III). The Fe(III) and Cu(II) interferences were eliminated by off-line precipitation with phosphate and on-line complexation with chloride, respectively. The concentration of Zn(II) was determined spectrophotometrically using 4-(2-pyridylazo) resorcinol (PAR). The optimal composition of the PIM consisted of 40% (m/m) di(2-ethlyhexyl) phosphoric acid (D2EHPA) as carrier, 10% (m/m) dioctyl phthalate (DOP) as plasticizer and 50% (m/m) poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) as the base polymer. The optimized FIA system was characterized by a linear calibration curve in the range from 1.0 to 30.0 mg L⁻¹ Zn(II), a detection limit of 0.05 mg L⁻¹ and a relative standard deviation of 3.4% with a sampling rate of 4 h⁻¹. Reproducible results were obtained for 20 replicate injections over a 5 h period which demonstrated a good membrane stability. The FIA system was applied to the determination of Zn(II) in pharmaceuticals and samples from the galvanizing industry and very good agreement with atomic absorption spectrometry was obtained.