Liquid anion-exchange separation of vanadium from malonate media

Summary Vanadium(IV) and (V) can be quantitatively extracted with 0.2 mol/l Amberlite LA-2 in xylene at pH 3.0 from 0.02 mol/l malonic acid, stripped with 0.5 mol/l hydrochloric acid, and determined spectrophotometrically. Five other liquid anion exchangers (Amberlite LA-1, Primene JM-T, Aliquat 336S, TOA and TIOA) were examined as possible extractants. The extraction of vanadium(IV) was found to be quantitative only with Amberlite LA-2, while that of vanadium(V) was quantitative with Amberlite LA-1 and LA-2, Primene JM-T and Aliquat 336S. Eight common solvents were tested as diluents; of these hexane, cyclohexane, benzene, and xylene were found to be satisfactory. Vanadium was separated from elements that do not form anionic complexes with malonic acid by selective extraction, from those that form weak complexes by washing the organic extract with water, and from metals that form strong malonato complexes by selective stripping with hydrochloric, nitric, or sulphuric acid. The method has been applied to the determination of vanadium in steel, coal fly ash and fuel oil. The precision of measurement is within ±5% and the detection limit of the method for vanadium is 0.5 mg/kg.