Abstract

In this paper, a flow injection on-line clean-up system was developed for determination of trace Pt, Pd and Au in the presence of Na⁺, K⁺, Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, Fe³⁺ and Al³⁺ by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry (ETAAS). A column packed with strongly acidic cation-exchange resin (Type 732) was used as a clean-up column. As Pt²⁺, Pd²⁺ and Au³⁺ can form strong complex anions with Cl⁻ in HCl medium, they can be separated from coexisting cations by passing through the clean-up column. The experimental results obtained for trace amounts of gold in reference materials were in good agreement with the certified values.