ICP-AES determination of traces of noble metal ions pre-concentrated and separated on a new polyacrylacylaminothiourea chelating fiber.

A new polyacrylacylaminothiourea chelating fiber was synthesized simply and rapidly from nitrilon (an acrylonitrile-based synthetic fiber) and aminothiourea. This fiber was used for the pre-concentration and separation of traces of AuIII, PtIV, PdIV, and IrIV ions from aqueous samples. Factors effecting and parameters for the adsorption of these ions onto the resin, such as acidity, rate, reuse, capacity, and interference of other ions, were investigated using inductively-coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES). Conditions of desorption of these ions from the resin were similarly investigated. The enrichment factor was 100. The relative standard deviation for the determination of AuIII, PtIV, PdIV, and IrIV were in the range of 0.7-3.0% for 20.0 ng/mL of each. The recoveries of a standard from real solution samples were between 96% and 100%. The concentrations of analyzed ions in a digested metal powder sample processed with the method proposed were in good agreement with the certified values.