Determination of vanadium(V) in sea water by densitometry after enrichment as the tiron complex on a thin layer of anion-exchange resin

Abstract

A rapid, simple and sensitive method for the determination of trace amounts of vanadium(V) in sea water has been developed. The method is based on the enrichment of vanadium(V) as a violet Tiron complex by a thin layer of anion-exchange resin followed by densitometric scanning of the thin layer. Except for chloride, the major constituents and the trace elements of sea water, when present at concentrations found in sea water or higher, did not affect the determination of vanadium(V). Chloride ions at concentration levels found in sea water affect the fixation of the vanadium(V)-Tiron complex on the thin layer of anion-exchange resin. The effect of chloride in sea water samples was reduced by dilution. The concentration of vanadium(V) in sea water was found to be 1.44 µg l^–1 with a relative standard deviation of 2.0%(n= 8) for 50 ml of sea water.