Determination of trace amounts of bromide by flow injection/stopped-flow detection technique using kinetic-spectrophotometric method

Abstract

A simple, sensitive and selective method for the determination of bromide in seawater by using a flow injection/stopped-flow detection technique was examined. The detection system was developed for a new kinetic-spectrophotometric determination of bromide in the presence of chloride matrix without any extraction and/or separation. The detection was based on the kinetic effect of bromide on the oxidation of methylene blue (MB) with hydrogen peroxide in a strongly acidic solution. Large amounts of chloride could enhance the sensitivity of the method as an activator. The decolorisation of the blue color of MB was used for the spectrophotometric determination of bromide at 746 nm. A stopped-flow approach was used to improve the sensitivity of the measurement and provide good linearity of the calibration over the range of 0–3.2 μg ml −1 of bromide. The relative standard deviation was 0.74% for the determination of 2.4 μg ml −1 bromide ( n = 5). The detection limit (3 σ) was 0.1 μg ml −1 with a sampling frequency of 12 h −1. The influence of potential interfering ions was studied. The proposed method was applied to the determination of bromide in seawater samples and provided satisfactory results.