Indirect determination of free cyanide in water and industrial waste water by flow injection-atomic absorption spectrometry

Abstract

A simple and rapid flow injection system is proposed for indirect determination of cyanide by flame atomic absorption spectrometry. It consists of a microcolumn of immobilized salen (N,N′-bis(salicylidene)ethylenediamine) on sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)-coated alumina saturated with silver ion and a carrier of dilute solution of sodium hydroxide (10−5 mol L−1). The micro-column was located between the injection valve and nebulizer of atomic absorption spectrometry. Injection of 250 µL of aqueous cyanide standard or sample solution at pH range of 9–11 cause elution of silver as silver cyanide complexes, which was then measured by flame atomic absorption spectrometry. The absorbance was proportional to the concentration of cyanide in the sample. The graph of absorbance (as peak height) vs. cyanide concentration was linear over the concentration range of 0.1–10 mg L−1 of cyanide, and the detection limit was 0.06 mg L−1. The relative standard deviation at 1 and 3 mg L−1 of cyanide concentration were 4.1 and 4.7%, respectively. The method was successfully applied to determination of cyanide in water and industrial waste waters, and the accuracy was examined through independent analysis by accepted method of pyridine-barbituric acid.