Determination of inorganic anions by high-performance liquid chromatography using a micellar mobile phase

Abstract

High-performance liquid chromatography using micellar hexadecyltrimethylammonium chloride as the mobile phase is shown to provide a versatile and efficient technique for the separation of iodate, nitrite, bromide, nitrate and iodide. The mechanism of distribution of the inorganic anions using an aqueous micellar mobile phase with a hydrophobic column packing is investigated. Anion partitioning between the micelles and the mobile phase and between the conditioned stationary phase and the mobile phase both contribute to the retention of the inorganic anions. The influence of the concentrations of hexadecyltrimethylammonium chloride, sodium chloride and acetonitrile on the retention mechanism is also investigated.

The application of micellar chromatography to the analysis of anions is demonstrated via the determination of nitrate and nitrite in domestic water samples.