Synthesis of polyacrylacylaminourea chelating fiber and properties of concentration and separation of trace metal ions from samples

A novel polyacrylacylaminourea chelating fiber is synthesized simply and ra pidly from nitrilon (an acrylonitrile-based synthetic fiber) and used for t he preconcentration and separation of trace In(III), Bi(III), Cr(III), V(V) and Ti(IV) ions from solution samples. The analyzed ions can be quantitati vely concentrated by the fiber up to a flow rate of 10.0 ml min(-1) at pH 3 , and can also be desorbed with 10 ml of 2 M HCl + 2% thiourea from the fib er column with recoveries of 97-99%. The chelating fiber is reused for eigh t times, the recoveries of these ions are still over 92%, and 100-1000 time s of excess of Fe(III), Al(III), Ca(II), Mg(II), Ni(II), Mn(II), Cu(II), Zn (II), and Cd(II) cause no interference in the determination of these ions b y inductively-coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry. The capacities o f the fiber for the analytes are in the 0.23-1.17 mmol g(-1) range. The res ults show the relative standard deviation for the determination of 50.0 ng ml(-1) In(III) and Bi(III), 5.0 ng ml(-1) Cr(III), V(V) and Ti(IV) are in t he 0.5-3.2% range. The recoveries of a standard added in real solution samp les are between 96 and 100%, and the concentration of each ion in mineral s ample detected by the method is in good agreement with the certified value. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.