Determination of silver in fresh water by atomic absorption spectrometry following flotation preconcentration by iron(III) collectors

Colloid precipitate flotation of silver from fresh water is applied for preconcentration and separation. Optimal conditions using hydrated iron(III) oxide and iron(III) tetramethylenedithiocarbamate as collectors were investigated. Various factors affecting the silver recovery, including collector mass, nature of the supporting electrolyte, pH of the working medium, electrokinetic potential of the collector particle surfaces, type of surfactant, induction time etc., were checked. Within the optimal pH range (5.5–6.5) silver was separated quantitatively (94.9– 100.0%) with 30 mg Fe(III) as collector. The content of silver was determined by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry and compared to that from inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry. The detection limit of silver by the method described is 0.01 μg/L.