Simultaneous Determination of Trace Amounts of Metals by High-Performance Liquid Chromatography after Preconcentration with Adsorption on Chlorotrifluoroethylene Polymer as Their Hexamethylenedithiocarbamate Complexes

Abstract

A method for the simultaneous determination of Bi, Cd, Cu, In, Ni and Pb by high-performance liquid chromatography is presented. These metals are preconcentrated on poly(chlorotrifluoroethylene) resin particles as their hexamethylenedithiocarbamate (HMDC) complexes, and eluted with dimethyl sulfoxide, followed by HPLC separation and determination using an ODS column. The conditions for the adsorption of metal-HMDC complexes, such as the pH, HMDC concentration, amount of the resin particles and elution times with dimethyl sulfoxide, are discussed. The resulting solution is suitable for injection into reversed-phase HPLC. The detection limits for the metals were found to be at sub μg l^-1 levels. The application of this principle to the trace analysis of Bi, Cd, Cu, In, Ni and Pb in high-purity aluminum is demonstrated.