A Rapid Enrichment Technique for the Ultratrace Determination of Nickel in Water Samples Using a Nanofiber-composite Membrane Filter

• Published in: Analytical Sciences Vol. 34; no. 8; pp. 907 - 912
• Main Authors: MIZUGUCHI, Hitoshi, ISHIDA, Ryota, KOUNO, Yasushi, TACHIBANA, Tadahiko, HONDA, Tomomi, KIJIMA, Tatsuro, YAMAMOTO, Yuhei, TAKAYANAGI, Toshio
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Singapore The Japan Society for Analytical Chemistry 2018; Springer Nature Singapore; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: Acetone; Analytical Chemistry; Chemistry; Colorimetry; Detection limits; Elution; Enrichment; Flow rates; Flow velocity; handheld spectrometer; Membrane filters; Membranes; Nanofiber; Nanofibers; Nickel; Nylon 6; Sampling instruments; Solid phases; solid-phase spectrophotometry; Spectrometry; Spectrophotometry; visual detection; Water analysis; Water purification; Water sampling; α-furil dioxime; handheld spectrometer; nickel; Nanofiber; visual detection; nylon 6; solid-phase spectrophotometry; α-furil dioxime
• ISSN: 0910-6340; 1348-2246; 1348-2246
• DOI: 10.2116/analsci.18P093

A new method for the rapid enrichment and highly sensitive determination of nickel ion has been developed by using a nanofiber-composite membrane filter, which was fabricated by stacking a nanofibrous material made of nylon 6 over a water-permeable membrane filter. The noncharged nickel-α-furil dioxime complex was adsorbed on a nanofibrous layer of the membrane filter under significantly higher flow rates than those used for conventional solid-phase extraction techniques. Highly sensitive determinations with detection limits at sub-parts per billion levels were achieved by enrichment from 50 mL of the complex solution, and the enrichment was completed within 3 min. The color that was developed on the membrane filter was successfully subjected to visual colorimetric analysis and quantitative determination by solid-phase spectrophotometry. In addition, colorimetric determination was feasible with a handheld spectrometer after elution of the colored agent with 50 μL of acetone. This combination of rapid enrichment and spectrometric measurement in a small-volume sample provides a useful analytical method suitable for on-site analysis, which requires neither expensive instruments nor high laboratory skills.