Simultaneous determination of cyanide, chloride, bromide, and iodide in environmental samples using ion chromatography with amperometric detection

Abstract

Ion chromatography is a well-established analytical technique for the simultaneous determination of ions. This paper focuses on the analytical determination of cyanide (CN −), chloride (Cl −), bromide (Br −), and iodide (I −) using amperometric detection via a silver working electrode at 0.15 V. A low capacity silica-based column was used for the separation with 5m M potassium hydrogen phthalate (pH 4.3) as the mobile phase. Detection of these ions was not subject to interference by NO 3 −, PO 4 3−, SO 4 2−, NO 2 −, SO 3 2−, SCN −, or S 2 O 3 2−. The detection limits ( S N = 3 ) of CN −, Cl −, Br −, and I − are 2.0, 0.2, 12, and 10 μg liter −1, respectively. Recovery of CN −, Br −, and I − in spiked samples ranged from 95 to 105% with the time of analysis being less than 10 min. The proposed method was used for the determination of CN −, Cl −, Br −, and I − in water and soil samples at trace levels.