Determination of nanogram levels of zirconium by chelating ion exchange and on-line preconcentration in flow injection UV-visible spectrophotometry.

Trace quantities of zirconium were preconcentrated on a series of chelating resins. The experimental conditions for preconcentration such as pH, time and metal ion concentration were optimized for the batch processes. Continuous flow manifolds were developed for the on-line preconcentration of zirconium using microcolumns containing chelating resins. Calibration plots were obtained with correlation coefficients of 0.9990 +/- 0.0008. The determination of zirconium was performed using Xylenol Orange at 535 nm. Binary and ternary mixtures of zirconium, thorium and titanium did not show any cross-contamination during column chromatographic separation.