Determination of toxic heavy metals in sea water by FAAS after preconcentration with a novel chelating resin

A solid phase extraction procedure was developed for preconcentration of toxic heavy metals such as cadmium, cobalt, copper, manganese, lead and zinc in sea water samples. A microcolumn packed with 6-[(4-hydroxyphenyl)diazenyl]naphthalene-2,3-diol-formaldehyde (HPDN-F) resin acts as a sorbent to retain the analyte ions by forming metal chelates. The retained trace level metal was subsequently eluted with 1 mol/L HCl and the acid eluent was analysed by Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (FAAS). The HPDN-F chelating resin and its metal chelates were characterized by spectral and thermal analysis. The chelating property of the HPDN-F resin towards divalent metal ions was studied as a function of pH and preconcentration flow rate. The recoveries of cadmium, cobalt, copper, manganese, lead and zinc under the optimum working conditions were above 95%. The relative standard deviations were <2%. The limits of detection were <0.1 μg/L. The method presented was applied for the determination of cadmium, cobalt, copper, manganese, lead and zinc in sea water samples.