Separation and preconcentration of metal ions and their estimation in vitamin, steel and milk samples using o-vanillin-immobilized silica gel

o-Vanillin-immobilized silica gel has been used for the adsorption and estimation of copper, cobalt, iron and zinc by both batch and column techniques. Metal ions were quantitatively retained on the column packed with immobilized silica gel in the pH range 4.0-6.0 for Cu, 5.0-6.0 for Co, 4.5-6.0 for Fe and 6.0-8.0 for Zn. The distribution coefficient D determined for each metal was as follows (ml g(-1)): Fe, 5.4x10(2); Cu, 4.9x10(2); Zn, 4.4x10(2); Co, 3.8x10(2). Methods have been developed to estimate zinc, copper and cobalt in milk, steel and vitamin samples, respectively.