Thin Layer Chromatographic of Metal Ions in Oxalic Acid-Oxalate Systems

Abstract

The adsorption behaviour of 48 metal ions has been studied in Oxalic acid - Oxalate systems using silica gel - G layers. The effect of p_H on R_f values was also investigated. A plot of -log Ksp Vs. R_M and R_f shows the dramatic behaviour of Hg²⁺ ion in 0.1 M Potassium Oxalate + 0.1 M Ammonium Oxalate (1:1) system. A number of interesting separations have been achieved e.g., Fe³⁺ - Ti⁴⁺ zr⁴⁺ - Ti⁴⁺, ce⁴⁺ - La³⁺, zr⁴⁺ - Th⁴⁺, Te⁴⁺ - Se⁴⁺ and Zr⁴⁺ - Y³⁺ - La³⁺. Ti⁴⁺ and Nb⁵⁺ were separated from a mixture of number of ions.