Sodium Trititanate Whisker Separation/Pre-Concentration Trace Cadmium in Water Samples

The present paper proposes the application of sodium trititanate whisker as solid sorbent for trace cadmium pre-concentration/separation using a static system coupled with flame atomic adsorption spectrometry (FAAS). The method comprised the pre-concentration of Cd(II) ions at a buffered solution (pH 5.0) onto 0.25 g of sorbent previously activated by 3.0 mol/L of HNO₃. The elution step was carried out with 10 ml of 2.0 mol/L of HCl. The effect of the experimental parameters, such as sample pH, amount of sodium trititanate whisker and eluent were studied. Also, the effect of foreign ions on the determination of Cd(II) was also investigated. Under the optimum conditions, the greatest static adsorption capacity of sodium trititanate whisker for Cd(II) was 36.07 mg/g, and lower limit of detections and precision are 0.015 mg/L and 1.31%, respectively.