title: A useful UV spectroscopic method for the determination of the concentration of diethylenetriamine (DETA) in aqueous mineral flotation solutions.
abstract: An alternative method for the determination of the concentration of diethylenetriamine (DETA) in aqueous mineral flotation solutions is described. This method is based on the formation of a DETA-Ni(II)-sulphite complex, which shows a UV absorption maximum at 285 nm that varies linearly with the concentration of DETA throughout the 0-50 mg l(-1) DETA range. A high concentration of Ni(II) is used to offset the effect of any Cu(II) or Ni(II) ions that may already be present in the industrial plant solutions under analysis. The intensity of the absorbance maximum is dependent on the sulphite ion concentration, but this problem is overcome by measuring the absorbances when the test solutions are spiked with different concentrations of DETA and then extrapolating the absorbance versus DETA concentration plot to zero absorbance to obtain the original concentration of DETA in the test solutions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
authors.forename: H J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Gass
authors.forename: I S
authors.initials: IS
authors.lastname: Butler
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ram Rao
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Finch