Determination of trace amounts of cobalt in water by solid-phase spectrophotometry after preconcentration on a nitroso R salt chelating resin

Abstract

A sensitive method for the determination of microamounts of cobalt by ion-exchanger spectrophotometry has been developed. The chromogenic agent, Nitroso-R-Salt (NRS), was loaded on an anionic-exchange resin (Amberlite CG-400). The absorbance of the NRS-cobalt complex on the chelating resin was measured at 508 nm. The best conditions for the preconcentration of cobalt on the resin before the spectrophotometric determination were a pH value of 6, temperature of 80 °C, and heating times of 45 or 90 min for 50 and 400 ml of sample, respectively. The detection limits were 27 ng/ml (50-ml samples) and 1.8 ng/ml (400-ml samples). Interference by other metals was investigated. The method is useful for determination of cobalt in natural waters.