Titration of strong and weak acids by sequential injection analysis technique

Abstract

A sequential injection analysis (SIA) titration method has been developed for acid-base titrations. Strong and weak acids in different concentration ranges have been titrated with a strong base. The method is based on sequential aspiration of an acidic sample zone and only one zone of the base into a carrier stream of distilled water. On their way to the detector, the sample and the reagent zones are partially mixed due to the dispersion and thereby the base is partially neutralised by the acid. The base zone contains the indicator. An LED-spectrophotometer is used as detector. It senses the colour of the unneutralised base and the signal is recorded as a typical SIA peak. The peak area of the unreacted base was found to be proportional to the logarithm of the acid concentration. Calibration curves with good linearity were obtained for a strong acid in the concentration ranges of 10 −4–10 −2 and 0.1–3 M. Automatic sample dilution was implemented when sulphuric acid at concentration of 6–13 M was titrated. For a weak acid, i.e. acetic acid, a linear calibration curve was obtained in the range of 3×10 −4–8×10 −2 M. By changing the volumes of the injected sample and the reagent, different acids as well as different concentration ranges of the acids can be titrated without any other adjustments in the SIA manifold or the titration protocol.