Speciation analysis of inorganic Sb(III) and Sb(V) ions by using mini column filled with Amberlite XAD-8 resin Original Research Article

The speciation of inorganic Sb(III) and Sb(V) ions in aqueous solution was studied. The adsorption behavior of Sb(III) and Sb(V) ions were investigated as iodo and ammonium pyrollidine dithiocarbamate (APDC) complexes on a column filled with Amberlite XAD-8 resin. Sb(III) and Sb(V) ions were recovered quantitatively and simultaneously from a solution containing 0.8 M NaI and 0.2 M H2SO4 by the XAD-8 column. Sb(III) ions were also adsorbed quantitatively as an APDC complex, but the recovery of the Sb(V)–APDC complex was found to be <10% at pH 5. According to these data, the concentrations of total antimony as Sb(III)+Sb(V) ions and Sb(III) ion were determined with XAD-8/NaI+H2SO4 and XAD-8/APDC systems, respectively. The Sb(V) ion concentration was calculated by subtracting the Sb(III) concentration found with XAD-8/APDC system from the total antimony concentration found with XAD-8/NaI+H2SO4 system. The developed method was applied to determine Sb(III) and Sb(V) ions in samples of artificial seawater and wastewater.