Simultaneous ion-exclusion chromatography and cation-exchange chromatography of anions and cations in environmental water samples on a weakly acidic cation-exchange resin by elution with pyridine-2,6-dicarboxylic acid

A non-suppressed conductivity detection ion chromatographic method using a weakly acidic cation-exchange column (Tosoh TSKgel OApak-A) was developed f or the simultaneous separation and determination of common inorganic anions (Cl-, NO3- and SO42-) and cations (Na+, NH4+, K+, Mg2+ and Ca2+). A satisf actory separation of these anions and cations on the weakly acidic cation-e xchange column was achieved in 25 min by elution with a mixture of 1.6 mmol L-1 pyridine-2,6-dicarboxylic acid and 8.0 mmol L-1 18-crown-6 at flow rat e of 1.0 mL min(-1). On this weakly acidic cation-exchange resin, anions we re retained by an ion-exclusion mechanism and cations by a cation-exchange mechanism. The linear range of the peak area calibration curves for all ana lytes were up to two orders of magnitude. The detection limits calculated a t S/N = 3 ranged from 0.25 to 1.9 mu mol L-1 for anions and cations. The io n-exclusion chromatography-cation-exchange chromatography method developed in this work was successfully applied to the simultaneous determination of major inorganic anions and cations in rainwater, tap water and snow water s amples.