Selective extraction of calcium on tri-n-butyl phosphate plasticized selective extraction of calcium on tri-n-butyl phosphate plasticized polyurethane foam for its spectrophotometric determination in glass and ceramics.

The present paper describes the application of a solid phase extraction system in order to separate traces of calcium from glass and ceramics for its spectrophotometric determination. The method is based on the extraction of calcium from sodium hydroxide solution by tri-n-butyl phosphate (TBP) loaded polyurethane foam (PUF), followed by its elution in hydrochloric acid. The spectrophotometric measurement of the absorbance of calcium complex with calconcarboxylic acid (2-hydroxy-1-(2-hydroxy-4-sulfo-1-naphthylazo)-3-naphthoic acid) takes place at pH 12. The following parameters were studied: effects of sodium hydroxide concentration and temperature on the extraction of calcium, time of equilibration for quantitative calcium extraction, effect of TBP concentration, effect of hydrochloric acid concentration for quantitative elution of calcium from PUF, effect of pH and concentration of calconcarboxylic acid for quantitative formation of the complex with calcium, effect of acetone on the stability of calcium-calconcarboxylic acid complex and influence of diverse ions on calcium sorption by TBP-loaded PUF. The results show that calcium traces can be separated onto TBP-loaded PUF from 0.25 mol L(-1) NaOH at 30 +/- 5 degrees C within 30 min. PUF was loaded with TBP in CCl4 (40% v/v). Elution of calcium was done in 1.0 mol l(-1) HCl. The calcium formed a complex with calconcarboxylic acid at pH 12 and absorbance was measured at 560 nm in acetone-water medium. Molar absorptivity was found to be 1.082 x 10(4) l mol(-1) cm(-1). The method obeys Beer's law from 0.10 to 5.0 microg ml(-1) Ca. The validity of the method was established by its successful application in NIST standard reference materials. The method proposed was applied to determine calcium in glass and ceramic materials. The results of the proposed method are comparable with the results of ICP-AES analysis and they are found to be in good agreement.