Determination of zinc, cadmium, cobalt and nikel by flame atomic absorption spectrometry after preconcentration by poly(ethylene terephthalate) fibers grafted with methacrylic acid

A method for the determination of Zn, Cd, Co and Ni by flame atomic absorption spectrophotometry after preconcentrating on poly(ethylene terephthalate) fibers grafted with methacrylic acid has been developed. The batch adsorption method was used for the preconcentration studies. Effect of pH, amount of adsorbent, concentration and volume of elution solution, shaking time and interfering ions on the recovery of the analytes have been investigated. Recoveries of Zn, Cd, Co and Ni were 97.3±0.4%, 98.3±0.2%, 94.1±0.3% and 96.5±0.6% at 95% confidence level, respectively, at optimum conditions. Langmuir adsorption isotherm curves were also studied for the analytes. The adsorption capacity of the adsorbent was found as 298, 412, 325 and 456 mg/g for Zn, Cd, Co and Ni, respectively. Poly(ethylene terephthalate) fibers grafted with methacrylic acid are suitable for repeated use without loss of capacity for more than thirty cycles. The proposed method was applied to the determination of trace metals in river water and synthetic sea water. Trace metals have been determined with high precision.