Abstract
M.Sc.
The behaviour i.e. the distribution, bioavailability and toxicity of an element depends on the particular species in which it is present. That being said the prediction of the behaviour of species can therefore not be predicted by determination of the total concentration alone. Speciation analysis is thus an important process, which seeks to identify and quantify the species that occur in a sample. By identifying the species one is better equipped to predict the behaviour of the element if it were released into the ecosystem as well as if it were used in industrial processes. The speciation analysis of the dominant chromium species, Cr(III) and Cr(VI), has received much attention as these contradictory species are involved in many industrial processes such as plating and tanning for example. The species have opposing behaviour as Cr(III) is found to be a necessary micronutrient for mammals where as Cr(VI) is known to be toxic. Of the numerous methods developed for chromium speciation analysis, the on-line process of chromatographic preconcentration followed by simultaneous detection with a sensitive detector produces a synergistic effect for the successful speciation analysis of chromium. It was thus decided to study ion chromatography hyphenated with an ICP-OES as a means of studying chromium species. Anion chromatography coupled with ICP-OES was the basis for the development of the first method. Complexation of Cr(III) with EDTA to form a monovalent anion preceded its separation from Cr(VI) as the chromate anion.
A carbonate-bicarbonate eluent was used to elute the species from a Dionex AG 9 guard column coupled with an AS 9 separation column. This method proved to be effective and fast, with each analysis taking less than two minutes. The second method was based on cation chromatography in the form of a Dionex CG12A guard column being coupled with an ICP-OES spectrometer as the detector. This method made use of a gradient elution program in which hexavalent chromium was eluted first with ammonium nitrate followed by
trivalent chromium with nitric acid. This method was successfully applied to synthetic samples and was found to be effective.