Use of Micellar Anionic Surfactant Solutions with Added Carbohydrates as Mobile Phases in Thin-layer Chromatography of Heavy Metal Cations. Separation of Mixtures of Aluminium(iii), Manganese(ii), and Chromium(vi)

A new thin-layer chromatographic system comprising silica gel ‘G’ as stationary phase and a micellar solution of sodium dodecyl sulphate (0.01 M) with added maltose (0.5 M) in 7:3 (v/v) ratio has been identified as most favourable for identification and separation of mixtures of aluminium(III), manganese(II), and chromium(VI). The presence of the carbohydrate enhances the separation efficiency of micellar solution of anionic surfactant (i.e. SDS). The experimental conditions were optimized to achieve separation of aluminium, manganese, and hexavalent chromium under different experimental conditions of sample pH, layer material composition, presence of foreign substances in the sample, nature of the polar head group of the surfactant, and the nature of the carbohydrate in the micellar mobile phase. The limits of detection and semiquantitative determination of the separated metal cations were also determined.