Use of Nb2O5–SiO2 in an automated on-line preconcentration system for determination of copper and cadmium by FAAS

A procedure for the determination of trace level of copper(II) and cadmium(II) by FAAS using an on-line preconcentration system has been proposed. In this system, copper and cadmium ions were adsorbed onto a minicolumn packed with silica gel modified with niobium(V) oxide (Nb2O5–SiO2), followed by nitric acid elution in reverse mode and determination on-line by flame atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS) without interference of the matrix. Chemical and flow variables as well as concomitant ions were studied in the developed procedure. The enrichment factor for copper(II) and cadmium(II) was 34.2 and 33.0, respectively, using a preconcentration time of 2 min. The limit of detection for copper(II) and cadmium(II) was 0.4, and 0.1 μg l−1, respectively. The precision of the method, evaluated as the relative standard deviation in solutions containing 15 μg l−1 of copper and 10 μg l−1 of cadmium, by analyzing a series of seven replicates, was 1.8 and 1.6%, respectively. The accuracy was assessed through recovery experiments of certified material and water samples.