Simultaneous determination of titanium and molybdenum in steel samples using derivative spectrophotometry in neutral micellar medium

A simple, selective and sensitive spectrophotometric method has been developed for the individual and simultaneous determination of Ti(IV) and Mo(VI) using resacetophenone p-hydroxybenzoylhydrazone (RAPHBH) in presence of Triton X-100, without any prior separation. Beer's law is obeyed between 0.13–1.2 μg mL−1 and 0.18–1.90 μg mL−1 concentration of Ti(IV) and Mo(VI) at 455 nm and 405 nm, respectively. The molar absorptivity and Sandell's sensitivity of the coloured complexes at pH 3.0 are 3.1 × 104 L mol−1 cm−1, 4.2 × 104 L mol−1 cm−1, and 1.6 ng cm−2, 2.3 ng cm−2 for Ti(IV) and Mo(VI), respectively. The stoichiometry of the complexes were found to be 1:2 and 1:1 (metal:ligand) for Ti(IV) and Mo(VI), respectively. These metal ions interfere with the determination of each other in zero-order spectrophotometry. The first derivative spectra of these complexes permitted a simultaneous determination of Ti(IV) and Mo(VI) at zero crossing wavelengths of 500.0 nm and 455.0 nm, respectively. The effect of foreign ions in the determination of Ti(IV) and Mo(VI) were investigated. The proposed method has been successfully applied for the determination of titanium and molybdenum in standard alloy steel, mineral and soil samples.