Determination of total tin in river water by hydride generation-atomic absorption spectrometry

Abstract

The total tin in river water was determined by hydride generation-atomic absorption spectrometry in sulphuric acid medium. The water was concentrated with nitric and sulphuric acids. Interference from copper and iron was eliminated by extracting copper with a carbon tetrachloride solution of zinc dibenzyldithiocarbamate and by complexing iron with 1,10-phenanthroline in solution. The acidities of the sample solutions were checked by weighing the residue in the flasks during the acid digestion so that the acidities of the sample solutions became approximately equal to those of the calibration solutions. When a 1,000 mg/l tin(IV) solution was diluted with water, the hydrolysed tin could not be determined entirely as the total tin by acidification with sulphuric acid, but it could be recovered completely by digestion even after 5 days. Thus digestion is essential when determining the total tin in water.