title: Determination of common inorganic anions and cations by non-suppressed ion chromatography with column switching.
abstract: An ion chromatography (IC) method has been proposed for the determination of seven common inorganic anions (F(-), H(2)PO(4)(-), NO(2)(-), Cl(-), Br(-), NO(3)(-), and SO(4)(2-)) and/or five common inorganic cations (Na(+), NH(4)(+), K(+), Mg(2+), and Ca(2+)) using a single pump, a single eluent and a single detector. The present system used cation-exchange and anion-exchange columns connected in series via a single 10-port switching valve. The 10-port valve was switched for the separation of either cations or anions in a single chromatographic run. When 1.0mM trimellitic acid (pH 2.94) was used as the eluent, the seven anions and the five cations could be separated on the anion-exchange column and the cation-exchange column, respectively. The elution order was found to be F(-)<H(2)PO(4)(-)<NO(2)(-)<Cl(-)<Br(-)<NO(3)(-)<SO(4)(2-) for the anions and Na(+)<NH(4)(+)<K(+)<Mg(2+)<Ca(2+) for the cations. Complete separation of the above anions or cations was demonstrated within 35min each. Detection limits calculated at S/N=3 were 0.05-0.58ppm (mg/l) for the anions and 0.05-0.38ppm for the cations, whereas repeatability values were below 2.26, 2.76, and 2.90% for peak height, peak area and retention time, respectively. The method was successfully applied to the determination of inorganic anions and cations in river water samples.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Gifu University, 1-1 Yanagido, Gifu 501-1193, Japan.
authors.forename: Muhammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Amin
authors.forename: Lee Wah
authors.initials: LW
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.forename: Toyohide
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Takeuchi
mesh_terms: D000838:Anions / Q000032:analysis*; D002412:Cations / Q000032:analysis*; D002852:Chromatography, Ion Exchange / Q000379:methods*; D007287:Inorganic Chemicals / Q000032:analysis; D014867:Water / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D000838:Anions; D002412:Cations; D007287:Inorganic Chemicals; D014867:Water