Removal of an iron matrix with polyoxyethylene-type surfactant-coated amberlite XAD-4 for the determination of trace impurities in high-purity iron.

Admicellar sorbents for the removal of an iron matrix were prepared for the determination of trace impurities in high-purity iron. A 1.0-g amount of Amberlite XAD-4 (macroreticular styrene-divinylbenzene copolymer) was coated with 0.14-1.3 mmol of polyoxyethylene-type surfactants, including polyoxyethylene-4-tert-octylphenoxy ethers (Triton X series) and polyoxyethylene-4-isononylphenoxy ethers (PONPEs). The surfactant-coated XAD-4 was packed into a polypropylene column (7 mm i.d. x 50 mm high). A 5.0-cm(3) volume of sample solution was passed through the column at a flow rate of 0.5 cm(3) min(-1). Milligram amounts of iron(III) were effectively sorbed on the column from 8 mol dm(-3) hydrochloric acid solutions. Among the surfactants tested, polyoxyethylene(20)-4-isononylphenoxy ether (PONPE-20) showed the best performance: the iron leaked from the PONPE-20 column was 4 microg when 25 mg of iron(III) was introduced onto the column. Trace elements, such as Ti(IV), Cr(III), Mn(II), Co(II), Ni(II), Cu(II), Zn(II), Ag(I), Cd(II), Pb(II), and Bi(III), were not retained on the column and thus quantitatively recovered in the column effluent. The effective separation of trace elements from an iron matrix allowed their accurate determinations by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry or graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry. The detection limits (3sigma blank) were in the nanogram per gram range. The proposed method was successfully applied to the determination of trace impurities in high-purity iron samples.