Spectrophotometric determination of boron in complex matrices by isothermal distillation of borate ester into curcumin

In situ distillation of borate ester into the curcumin solution has been developed for the spectrophotometric determination of boron in a variety of complex matrixes. A polypropylene vessel containing the sample solution was placed inside a vessel (PP) containing 10 ml of curcumin solution and the distillation was carried out at room temperature/on a water bath. The borate ester collected in to the curcumin solution was evaporated to dryness on the water bath, taken in acetone and the absorbance was measured at 550 nm. In situ distillation of borate ester directly into the chromogenic reagent eliminates tedious sample treatment (before and/or after borate separation), use of methanol, complicated quartz set up, possible loss of boron and reduces the analysis time significantly. In situ dehydration of sample solution by ethanolic vapour in the absence of dehydrating acid prevents the formation of fluoborate and co-distillation of potential anionic interferents (nitrate and fluoride). This developed method has been applied for the determination of traces of boric acid in boron powder by the distillation of methyl borate at room temperature. For other matrixes (water, uranium oxide, uranyl nitrate, fluoride salt, etc.) distillation of ethyl borate was carried out on the water bath. LOD (3(sigma)) was 5 ng g^-1 for water and 30 ng g^-1 for solid samples.