Abstract
A selective and sensitive chromatographic method for the determination of trace amounts of alkyl benzenesulfonates (ABS) has been developed.
ABS in water was satisfactorily recovered by the use of Amberlite XAD-2 resin, a stylene-divinylbenzene porous polymer. Further, Amberlite XAD-2 was useful for the separation of ABS and other admixtures in contaminated water.
The samples treated with Amberlite XAD-2 were concentrated and then determined either by methylene blue spectrophotometric method after acid hydrolysis or by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC).
Silicagel was used as a stationary phase in HPLC and the samples dissolved in methanol were determined by stepwise elution method at 225nm, The peak of ABS was very sharp and separated enough from other admixtures in contaminated water. The detection limit of ABS was 0.1μg.
A good reproducibility on the determination of ABS in river water was obtained by both methods, but HPLC method showed much better selectivity and sensitivity in comparison with methylene blue spectrophotometric method. Therefore, HPLC method is applicable for the determination of trace amounts of ABS in contaminated water.
