Utility of solid-phase spectrophotometry to determine trace amounts of zinc in environmental and biological samples

A solid-phase spectrophotometric analysis has been proposed for preconcentration and determination of Zn(II) in real samples. The procedure is based on sorption of zinc(II) as 5-(2-benzothiazolylazo)-8-hydroxyquinoline (BTAHQ) complex on dextran-type anion-exchange gel (Sephadex DEAE A-25). The influences of the analytical parameters, including pH of the aqueous solution, amounts of BTAHQ, and sample volume, were investigated. The absorbance of the gel at 675 and 750 nm, packed in a 1.0-mm cell, was measured directly. The molar absorptivities were found to be 2.50 × 107 and 9.55 × 107 L mol−1 cm−1 for 500 and 1000 ml, respectively. Calibration was linear over the range of 0.05–1.10 μg L−1 with a relative standard deviation of less than 1.60% (n = 10). The detection and quantification limits of the 500-ml sample method were 12 and 40 ng L−1 on using 50 mg. For the 1000-ml sample, the detection and quantification limits were 7.5 and 25 ng L−1 using a 50-mg exchanger. Increasing the sample volume can enhance sensitivity. No considerable interferences were observed from other investigated anions and cations on the Zn(II) determination. The proposed method was applied to determine zinc in environmental samples, including natural water, food, certified reference materials, meat, and biological samples, comparing the results simultaneously with those obtained using a flame atomic absorption spectrophotometer, whereby the validity of the method was tested.