Establishment and verification of an atomic absorption spectrophotometric method for determination of nickel in sorbitol

Abstract

Objective To establish an atomic absorption spectrophotometric method for quantitative detection of nickel content in sorbitol, and confirm the feasibility and validity of the method. Methods Standard addition technique was used. In the 4 aliquots of sorbitol sample, 0.0, 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5 ml of 3 μg/ml nickel stock standard solution was added respectively. Then, 10 g/L ammonium pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate solution and methyl isobutyl ketone (MIBK) solution were added for extraction of nickel into MIBK layer. The liquid MIBK layer containing nickel was analyzed at 232.0 nm. Results The coefficient of determination was >0.998, which indicated the linearity of the method was excellent. The recovery of nickel was determined as 98%-103%, and the maximum relative standard deviation was 3%, which indicated that the accuracy and repeatability of the method were quite good. Also the limit of quantitation was determined as 4.6×10-7. Conclusion The established atomic absorption spectrophotometric method can be used for determining nickel content in sorbitol. Key words: Sorbitol; Nickel; Spectrophotometry, atomic