Ion chromatographic determination of traces of some oxoanions with direct spectrophotometric detection

Investigation of the use of a single analytical procedure using the non-suppressed ion chromatographic method with direct spectrophotometric detection capable of determining eight oxoanions simultaneously is presented in this paper. Potassium phosphate was found to be the most suitable eluent for UV absorbance detection at 205 nm. Oxoanions AsO3−3, SeO2−3, AsO3−4, VO−3, SeO2−4, WO2−4, MoO2−4 and CrO2−4 were detected at ng ml−1 levels with well separated peaks at retention time < 25 min. The working range is in the range ng ml−1 to 50 μg ml−1. The method is sufficiently sensitive to determine As (V), V(V), Mo(VI) and Cr(VI) anions (and NO−3) directly in a river water sample. The accuracy of these results was established by comparison with conventional atomic absorption methods.