A solid-phase extraction method using Transcarpathian clinoptilolite for preconcentration of trace amounts of terbium in water samples.

Volodymyr O Vasylechko,Victor P Zakordonskiy,Galyna V Gryshchouk,Olga Vyviurska,Andriy V Pashuk

doi:10.1186/s13065-015-0118-z

Volodymyr O Vasylechko, Victor P Zakordonskiy + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/s13065-015-0118-z

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Abstract

BackgroundIn spite of the fact that terbium is one of the rarest elements in the Earth’s crust, it is frequently used for the production of high technological materials. At the result, an effective combination of sample preparation procedure and detection method for terbium ions in different matrices is highly required. The solid-phase extraction procedure with natural Transcarpathian clinoptilolite thermally activated at 350 °C was used to preconcentrate trace amounts of terbium ions in aqueous solutions for a final spectrophotometric determination with arsenazo III.ResultsThermogravimetric investigations confirmed the existence of relations between changes that appeared during dehydratation of calcined zeolite and its sorption affinity. Since the maximum of sorption capacity towards terbium was observed at pH 8.25, a borate buffer medium (2.5 · 10−4 М) was used to maintain ionic force and solution acidity. Terbium was quantitatively removed from the solid-phase extraction column with a 1.0 M solution of sodium chloride (pH 2.5). The linearity of the proposed method was evaluated in the range of 2.5-200 ng · mL−1 with detection limit 0.75 ng · mL−1.ConclusionsDue to acceptable recoveries (93.3–102.0 %) and RSD values (6–7.1) from spiked tap water, the developed method can be successfully applied for the determination of trace amounts of terbium ions in the presence of major components of water.Graphical abstractSorption of terbium(III) ions on clinoptilolite

Highlights

In spite of the fact that terbium is one of the rarest elements in the Earth’s crust, it is frequently used for the production of high technological materials
As to the thermal treatment of Transcarpathian clinoptilolite, a minimum at 250 °C and a maximum at 350 °C of sorption capacity for terbium were observed over a narrow temperature range (Fig. 1)
Only partial rehydration of zeolite could be observed in distilled water, e.g. water content of Transcarpathian clinoptilolite was reduced by 18 wt. % after thermal treatment at 500 °C

Summary

Introduction

In spite of the fact that terbium is one of the rarest elements in the Earth’s crust, it is frequently used for the production of high technological materials. At the same time terbium compounds have been widely applied for luminophores, magnetic and laser materials This lanthanide was detected in sea and mineral waters [2] as well as in some wines at the microlevel. The determination of microelements from real samples and wastewaters requires a proper sample preparation procedure, including such steps as preconcentration, Vasylechko et al Chemistry Central Journal (2015) 9:45 the other sorbents. These natural aluminosilicate minerals contain pores and cavities with strictly defined size and shape, and it provides very effective concentration and separation of organic and inorganic compounds. The aim of this study is to complete these investigations and to develop a simple sample preparation procedure for the spectrophotometric detection of trace amounts of terbium ions in aqueous solutions

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