Flame atomic absorption spectrometric determination of trace chromium in various standard samples after preconcentration with 2-(5-bromo-2-pyridylazo)-5-diethylaminophenol.

Chromium can be quantitatively retained as 2-(5-bromo-2-pyridylazo)-5-diethylaminophenol (5-Br-PADAP)-tetra-phenylborate(TPB) complex onto microcrystalline naphthalene in the pH range 4.8-5.9 from a large volume of aqueous solutions of various standard samples. After filtration, the solid mass consisting of the chromium complex and naphthalene was dissolved with 5 mL of dimethylformamide and the metal was determined by air-acetylene FAAS. A detection limit of 4 ng/mL for chromium was established. The interference of a large number of anions and cations has been studied and the optimized conditions developed were utilized for the trace determination of chromium in various standard alloys and biological samples.