DETERMINATION OF NANOGRAM LEVELS OF ZIRCONIUM BY CHELATING ION-EXCHANGE AND ONLINE PRECONCENTRATION IN FLOW-INJECTION UV-VISIBLE SPECTROPHOTOMETRY

Trace quantities of zirconium were preconcentrated on a series of chel ating resins. The experimental conditions for preconcentration such as pH, lime and metal ion concentration were optimized for the batch pro cesses. Continuous flow manifolds were developed for the on-line preco ncentration of zirconium using microcolumns containing chelating resin s. Calibration plots were obtained with correlation coefficients of 0. 9990 +/- 0.0008. The determination of zirconium was performed using Xy lenol Orange at 535 nm. Binary and ternary mixtures of zirconium, thor ium and titanium did not show any cross-contamination during column ch romatographic separation. (C) 1997 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.