Turning surface chemical phenomena to advantage in quantitative trace analysis

Abstract

Adsorption processes are usually regarded as anathemas in inorganic chemical analysis since they often account for significant losses in separations or in electrochemical measurements. Apart from chromatographic separations and adsorption indicators, little attention seems to have been paid to surface phenomena in a constructive manner for carrying out analyses. Three examples, namely an account of the mechanism of the adsorption of organometallic chelates on aluminium and silicon oxides, the deliberate superimposition of an adsorbed film of protein on platinum micro-electrodes used in determinations of oxygen in body tissue and novel measurements of charges on gas bubbles passing through electrolyte solutions, are discussed in terms of their physical chemistry and their possible application to specific problems in inorganic analysis in order to demonstrate that adsorption can be turned to good account.