Quantitative inorganic paper chromatography direct determination of nickel in microgram quantities

A method has been developed for the direct determination on filter paper of nickel, after Chromatographic separation of interfering elements. The sample is dissolved in ₃N hydrochloric acid and the solution is spotted on filter paper, together with standard solutions of nickel. After chromatographic development with a mixture of acetone, hydrochloric acid and acetylacetone, the nickel spot, which has scarcely moved, is made visible by spraying with a solution of rubeanic acid, and its reflectance is measured with a Beckman DU Spectrophotometer at 625 mμ. Most interfering elements have moved away because of their high R_F values. In the presence of large amounts of aluminiun, chromium, titanium or vanadium, a preliminary extraction of the nickel is necessary. Several technical alloys have been analyzed successfully by this method, for which only 0.045 ml of solution, containing 0.45–9 μg of nickel, are needed, although its precision is equal to that of the best colorimetric methods.