Sorbent flotation in trace metal analysis: Preconcentration of uranium traces on hydrophobized hyphan-cellulose

The use of flotation in analytical chemistry has established itself as a reliable technique for the separation and preconcentration of trace elements. In most of the applications in situ generated inorganic and organic precipitates were used as trace element gatherers and floated to the surface of large volumes of solution with the aid of a rising stream of gas bubbles and well selected collector surfactants. This procedure of open-quotes precipitate flotationclose quotes has been well studied and applied to many problems of preconcentration chemistry. As far as the present authors are aware of solid preformed sorbents have not yet been separated from large volumes of solution by flotation after batch type sorption of trace elements on them. That is why the authors considered it worthwhile to explore the analytical potentialities of the separation of commercial and non-commercial solid sorbents by flotation. The new procedure the authors like to call open-quotes sorbent flotationclose quotes refers to the separation of preformed solid sorbents from large volumes of solution and can be viewed as an extension to the already known flotation of in situ formed inorganic and organic precipitates