Spectrophotometric Determination of Ultra trace Tri & Hexavalent Chromium by Using on-line Flow Injection Analysis with Dual Pre-concentration Column

An on-line flow injection analysis with dual pre-concentration method was developed to determine the ultra trace tri and hexavalent chromium in water. In this system, the cation and anion pre-concentration columns were combined with a 10-port injection valve and then used to separate and concentrate Cr (III) and Cr (VI) selectively. The two species of concentrated chromium were sequentially eluted and determined by using HCl-KCl buffer of pH 1.8 as an eluent. Cr (III) was oxidized by hydrogen peroxide to Cr (VI). It was detected spectrophotometrically at 548 nm by complexation with DPC (diphenylcarbazide). Several factors such as concentration of H2O2, DPC and coil length in reaction condition were optimized. The linear range for Cr (III) and Cr (VI) was 0.1-50 mu g/L. The limit of detections (3 sigma) of Cr (III) and Cr (VI) were 52 ng/L and 44 ng/L under the optimized FIA system, and their recoveries 98% and 103%, respectively. This method was applied to analyze contamination level of chromium species in tap water, groundwater and bottled water.