Spectrophotometric determination of cobalt with 1-(2-pyridylazo)-2-naphthol and surfactants.

A simple and highly selective spectrophotometric method for the determination of cobalt based upon the rapid reaction with PAN in the presence of surfactants and minute amounts of ammonium persulphate at pH 5.0 is described. The cobalt(III) chelate is made water-soluble by a neutral surfactant. Triton X-100, combined with sodium dodecylbenzene sulphonate (DBS). Iron(III), bismuth, tin(IV) and aluminium are masked with oxalate or citrate. Iron(II) must be absent. The other metal-PAN chelates, except that of nickel, are readily decomposed by EDTA. Up to 150 microg of nickel does not interfere. When larger amounts up to 625 microg are present, the absorbance can be corrected by measurements at two wavelengths. In a strongly acid medium (below pH 0.5) the nickel and other metal chelates are completely and instantaneously decomposed, while the cobalt(III) chelate remains unchanged. When, in place of EDTA, several ml of 6M hydrochloric acid are added after the colour development, nickel in quantities up to 1250 microg can be tolerated. A several hundredfold excess of zinc and manganese does not interfere. At 620 nm Beer's law is obeyed over the cobalt concentration range 0.4-3.2 microg/ml. The precision (95% confidence) is +/- 1.0 microg for 100 microg of cobalt. The molar absorptivity is 1.90 x 10(4) l. mole(-1) .cm(-1).