Continuous flow system for the determination of trace boron in iron and steel utilizing in-line preconcentration/separation by Sephadex column coupled with fluorimetric detection

A simple, rapid and sensitive system for the determination of trace boron in iron and steels is presented, in which in-line separation/preconcentration of boron from iron matrix is directly coupled with fluorimetric detection in a continuous flow system. Boron was adsorbed on a small column packed with Sephadex G-25 gel, followed by elution with a small volume of dilute hydrochloric acid. The formation of boron complex with 1,8-dihydroxy-3,6-naphthalenedisulphonic acid in a continuous flow system was used for the sensitive determination of boron by fluorescence detection(λex=314 nm and λem=355 nm). The present FIA system offers many advantages over existing methods, especially with respect to simplicity and sensitivity, permitting semi-automated determination of boron with a short analysis time (about 10 min), low limit of determination (0.1 ppm in steels) and good reproducibility (rsd<3% for 1–18 μg g−1 boron in steels).The present FIA system can be readily applied to the steel samples.