Flame atomic absorption spectrometric determination of copper, zinc and manganese after solid-phase extraction using 2,6-dichlorophenyl-3,3-bis(indolyl)methane loaded on Amberlite XAD-16

A simple and selective method for the determination of Cu2+, Zn2+ and Mn2+ ions in real samples by FAAS after solid-phase extraction was developed. The method is based on the sorption of metal ions on Amberlite XAD-16 modified by 3-((2,6-dichlorophenyl)(1H-indol-3-yl)methyl)-1H-indole (DCPIMI) at a pH of 5.0. The metal ions retained on solid phase by complexation with ligand were then eluted with 6 mL of 4 mol L−1 nitric acid in acetone. In order to obtain a reversible uptake and elution of metal ions, the influence of flow rates of eluent and sample solution, ligand concentration and amount of surfactant and condition of elution solution was also investigated. A preconcentration factor of 225 was achieved by passing 1350 mL of sample through the solid phase, while the limit of detection (LOD) of Cu2+, Zn2+ and Mn2+ ions were found to be 1.9, 1.5 and 2.6 ng mL−1, respectively, and the corresponding precision at 20 μg L−1 was 2.1%, 2.3%, 3.0%.