Voltametric determination of molybdenum in brines

The presence of molybdenum in natural water, at the ng/ml level, is essential for the growth of phytoplankton and other organisms, but its presence in brines is reported to affect the current efficiency in electrochemical chlor-alkali production. A voltammetric method, incorporating a preconcentration step, has been developed for the determination of molybdenum at this level in brine and sea-water. Molybdenum is co-precipitated with cadmium sulphide at a pH of about 2. The precipitate is dissolved in aqua regia and fumed with perchloric acid. The residue is dissolved in a supporting electrolyte comprising 1M sodium perchlorate, 0.1M sodium acetate and 0.01M EDTA (pH 6.0-+0.2). At this pH, as well-defined wave for the reduction of molybdenum(VI) is obtained at -0.88V vs. SCE. None of the common ions interferes. Preconcentration of the molybdenum from 1 litre of brine facilitates its determination down to 1 ng/ml. The estimated precision at the 5 ng/ml level is 13 %. (author)