The determination of microgram quantities of fluoride : The use of the aluminium-haematoxylin complex

This paper describes a method for the spectrophotometric determination of fluoride. The fluoride is separated from interfering ions by the standard method of distillation as hydrofluosilicic acid. The fluoride in this distillate is determined by its destruction of the aluminium-haematoxylin complex; the amount of complex destroyed which is directly proportional to the concentration of fluoride is measured spectrophotometrically using radiation of 5700 A. The method will detect down to 0.05 p.p.m. of fluoride on a 10 gram sample with precision of rather better than ± 10% with larger amounts of fluoride. references p. 368.