Catalytic effect of copper on the hexacyanoferrate(III)—cyanide redox reaction—II catalytic determination of copper

Abstract

A catalytic method for the determination of copper, based on the catalysis of the hexacyano-ferrate(III)—cyanide redox reaction, is proposed. Experimental conditions to achieve the lowest detection limit are selected from the kinetics of both the catalysed and the uncatalysed reactions. The experimental measurements can be made at room temperature without close control. The rate-constant method is the most sensitive and precise, whereas the fixed-concentration and fixed-time methods appear to be the most rapid for routine analysis. A detection limit of 1.3 ng/ml and a coefficient of variation of about 3% for the determination of 63 ng/ml can be achieved. The catalytic effect of copper seems to be highly specific. Lead(II), bismuth (III), antimony (III), iron (II), iron(III), chromium(III), lanthanum(III), cerium(III), titanium(IV), zirconium(IV) and uranium(VI) interfere by precipitation. Species such as tin(II), cobalt(II), manganese(II), sulphite and thiosulphite cause serious interference because they react with hexacyanoferrate(III). Chromate interferes by its colour. Suitable methods to avoid the interferences from antimony(III), iron(III), chromium(III), titanium(IV), zirconium(IV), uranium(VI) and chromate are proposed.