Preconcentration of Cu(II), Co(II), and Ni(II) using an Optimized Enrichment Procedure: Useful and Alternative Methodology for Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrometry

In this paper, a new solid phase extraction procedure is described for Cu(II), Co(II), and Ni(II). Silica gel which was coated with N,N'-bis(4-methoxysalicylidene) ethylenediamine (MSE) is used as a sorbent. Three independent variables were optimized using central composite design (CCD) for sorption and elution of metal ions. The optimum values of sorption and elution variables allowed simultaneous preconcentration of the ions in same conditions as follows, for sorption, pH 6.9, flow rate 5.4mLmin(-1), sample volume 50.0mL, and for elution, flow rate 2.6mLmin(-1), eluent concentration 1.0molL(-1), eluent volume 5.0mL. The detection limits (LOD) were found to be 1.1 mu gL(-1) for Cu(II), 7.4 mu gL(-1) for Co(II), and 7.5 mu gL(-1) for Ni(II) and preconcentration factor was 200 for each of the ions. The accuracy of the method was tested with Lake Ontario water and multi-element standard solution. The proposed method was also applied to various water samples. The proposed method can be alternatively suggested as accurate, precise, easy, and a cheap method for Cu(II), Co(II), and Ni(II) determination.