A preconcentration system using polyamine Metalfix-Chelamine resin for the on-line determination of palladium(II) and platinum(IV) by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry

A new matrix separation/preconcentration method is developed for the on-line determination of palladium(II) and platinum(IV) in complex matrices using a sequential ICP-OES instrument. These metals are preconcentrated in a microcolumn packed with Metalfix-Chelamine, a polymeric functionalised resin containing the tetraethylenepentamine group. The hydrodynamic and chemical conditions of the flow system affecting the loading and elution steps are optimised off-line using a mixture of 1.0 mol L−1 thiourea and 2.0 mol L−1 NaClO4 in 4.0 mol L−1 HCl which proved to be the most effective solution for the simultaneous elution of Pd(II) and Pt(IV). High enrichment factors of nearly 35 are achieved for both metals and the detection limits (LOD) are 22 ng L−1 for platinum and 2.5 ng L−1 for palladium. The accuracy of the method was tested by analysing a used pellet catalyst (certified reference material NIST 2556) and trace metal solutions resulting from the leaching of this material. Despite the fact that this CRM contains zirconium and large amounts of aluminium and lead, a high level of agreement was achieved demonstrating the efficiency of the resin in eliminating interfering elements.