Separation and Preconcentration of Ag(1) in Aqueous Samples by Flotation as an Ion-Associate Using Iodide and Ferroin Followed the Determination by Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrometry

A simple method for separation/preconcentration and determination of Ag (1) in aqueous samples is described. The method is based on formation of an ion-associate between Ag (1)-iodide complex and ferroin, which can be floated at the interface of the aqueous/n-heptane phases. The flotation process was carried out using 500-ml aliquot of the aqueous solution and the floated layer was dissolved in 5 ml of 1 M HNO3 containing methanol (50% v/v) as the solvent. The Ag (1) content was then determined by flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS). The method so could be considered as an enrichment process, was achieved to a quantitative feature, when the pH of the solution was adjusted to 4 and the concentrations of iodide and ferroin were about 3.2x10-4 M and 6.25x10-5 M, respectively. The LOD and RSD (n=7) were obtained 1.0x10-8 M and 2.4%, respectively. It was found that a large number of cations and anions even at high considerably foreign ion/Ag(1) ratios were not interfered. The method was applied satisfactorily to recovery of Ag(I) from different aqueous samples