Spectrophotometric determination of indium in nickel alloys and zinc ores with 1-(2-pyridylmethylideneamine)-3-(salicylideneamine)thiourea

A sensitive method for the spectrophotometric determination of indium with 1-(2-pyridylmethylideneamine)-3-(salicylideneamine)thiourea is proposed. A yellow complex is formed at pH 4.5 (succinate buffer) in a medium containing 40% dimethylformamide, and the absorbance is measured at 415 nm. The molar absorptivity is 6.2 x 10(4)l.mole(-1).cm(-1). The relative standard deviation of the procedure is 1.5%. The method has been applied to determination of indium in a nickel alloy and three zinc ores, with prior isolation of indium by co-precipitation with ammonia and extraction into n-butyl acetate from 5M hydrobromic acid.