Spectrophotometric determination of beryllium in water samples after micelle-mediated extraction preconcentration

Abstract

A new micelle-mediated phase preconcentration method for preconcentration of ultra-trace quantities of beryllium as a prior step to its determination by spectrophotometry has been developed. Chrome Azurol S (CAS) and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) were used as chelating agent and cationic surfactant, respectively. The method evaluates and eliminates the blank bias error present in such procedures using mean centering of ratio spectra. This procedure gives more accurate results than the traditional approach using absorbance values against reagent blank. The optimal extraction and reaction conditions were studied and the analytical characteristics of the method (e.g., limit of detection, linear range, preconcentration and improvement factors) were obtained. Linearity was obeyed in the range of 0.9–18.0 ng mL −1 (1.00 × 10 −7–2.00 × 10 −6 mol L −1) of beryllium. The detection limit of the method is 0.51 ng mL −1 (5.66 × 10 −8 mol L −1) of beryllium. The interference effect of some anions and cations was also tested. The method was applied to the determination of beryllium in spring water samples.