Spectrophotometric determination of tungsten in ores and steel by chloroform extraction of the tungsten-thiocyanate-diantipyrylmethane complex.
A method for determining up to about 6% of tungsten in ores and mill products is described. It is based on the extraction of the yellow tungsten(V)-thiocyanate-diantipyrylmethane ion-association complex into chloroform from a 2.4M sulphuric acid-7.8M hydrochloric acid medium containing ammonium hydrogen fluoride as masking agent for niobium. The molar absorptivity of the complex is 1510 1. mole(-1).mm(-1) at 404 nm, the wavelength of maximum absorption. Moderate amounts of molybdenum and selenium may be present in the sample solution without causing appreciable error in the result. Interference from large amounts is avoided by separating these elements from tungsten by chloroform extraction of their xanthate complexes. Large amounts of copper interfere during the extraction of tungsten because of the precipitation of cuprous thiocyanate. Common ions, including uranium, vanadium, cobalt, titanium, arsenic and tellurium, do not interfere. The proposed method is also applicable to steel.
Donaldson
E M
EM
Mineral Sciences Division, Mines Branch, Department of Energy, Mines and Resources, Ottawa, Canada.