It is very important to know the amounts of Cl
-and SO
42- in water-soluble ink for ball-point pens because large amounts of these ions cause various troubles such as blurring and precipitating. The capillary tube isotachophoresis has been applied to the simultaneous determination of Cl
- and SO
42- in ink. In order to determine the optimum conditions for the separation of these ions, three electrolyte systems have been investigated; (I) : the leading electrolye (L) contains 5 mM cadmium nitrate and acetone, the terminal electrolyte (T) contains 5 mM hexanoic acid, (II) : (L) 5 mM cadmium nitrate and ethanol, (T) 5 mM hexanoic acid, (III) : (L) 5 mM calcium hydroxide, (T) 5 mM hexanoic acid. Cl
- and SO
42- in the standard solution are determined successfully with each electrolyte system. For both electrolyte (I) and (II), the more the amount of solvent increases, the more the potential unit (PU) values of Cl
- and SO
42- increase, and therefore, these ions are separated more clearly. PU values vary as follows : no organic solvent, Cl
- : 0.03, SO
42-: 0.06, 50 % of acetone, 0.27, 0.55, 50 % of ethanol, 0.13, 0.62. In case that 20 % of acetone or ethanol is added, Cl
- and SO
42- in ink can be separated and determined. Adding above 30 % of these organic solvents, SO
42- is separated from Cl
- but not separated from the sulfinate dyes in ink. The dyes become insoluble in the electrolyte (I) and (II), and stick to the capillary tube and detector as each electrolyte is acidic. On the contrary, electrolyte system (III) which is basic gives good results for basic ink. Cl
- and SO
42- are separated without interferences of the dyes. PU values are also high (Cl
- : 0.24, SO
42- : 0.32). The detection limit of Cl
- and SO
42- by the present method is 3 ppm.
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