Spectrophotometric determination of sulphate in sodium hydroxide solutions by flow-injection analysis

A spectrophotometric flow-injection procedure is described for the determination of sulphate in sodium hydroxide solutions. Sulphate catalyses the reaction between zirconium and methylthymol blue to form a complex measured at 586 nm. Optimal reaction conditions are discussed. The calibration graph is linear over the range 0.05–0.5 g l^?1 sulphate with a relative standard deviation of 0.02. The sample throughput is 20 h^?1. Sulphate is easily determined in 1 M sodium hydroxide; the results agree with those obtained by the conventional gravimetric method and by ion chromatography.