Preparation of an agglomerated ion chromatographic stationary phase with 2,3-ionene and its application in SO4(2-) analysis

Abstract

The poly-electrolyte cation functional group of 2,3-ionene was synthesized with tetramethyl ethylenediamine and 1,3-dibromopropane as the raw materials. Multiporous polystyrene-divinylbenzene microsphere particles (PS-DVB) were produced by swelling method with polystyrene as seeds and sulfonated. Then the 2,3-ionene was bonded on the sulfonated multi-porous polystyrene-divinylbenzene microsphere particles by agglomeration to get the agglomerative ion-exchange stationary phase. After optimizing the synthetic conditions, the new stationary phase was characterized by the techniques including scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and elemental analysis. The chromatographic column was packed by slurry method and applied in the analysis of SO4(2-) with a conductivity detector. SO4(2-) and other six common anions including F-, Cl-, NO2(-), Br-, NO3(-), PO4(3-), were separated and analyzed rapidly on the self-regulating chromatographic column within 8 min. The linear range was from 0.5 to 50 mg/L with correlation coefficient (r) of 0.9992. The LOD was 0.04 mg/L with S/N of 3. The relative standard deviations (RSDs, n = 6) were 2.4% and 3.1% for the peak area and retention time, respectively. The recoveries were between 99.2% and 101.8%. The retention times of SO4(2-) did not change significantly after long time use of the self-regulating chromatographic column. The self-regulating chromatographic column is suitable for the detection of SO4(2-) in complex matrix samples.