Application of modified multiwalled carbon nanotubes as solid sorbent for separation and preconcentration of trace amounts of manganese ions

In this work, the potential of modified multiwalled carbon nanotubes for separation and preconcentration of trace amounts of manganese ion is studied. Multiwalled carbon nanotubes were oxidized with concentrated HNO3 and then modified with loading 1-(2-pyridylazo)-2-naphtol. Mn(II) ions could be quantitatively retained by modified multiwalled carbon nanotubes in the pH range of 8–9.5. Elution of the adsorbed manganese was carried out with 5.0 mL of 0.1 mol L−1 HNO3. Detection limit is 0.058 ng mL−1 and analytical curve is linear in the range of 0.1 ng mL−1–5.0 μg mL−1 in the initial solution with a correlation coefficient 0.9977 and the preconcentration factor is 100. Relative standard deviation for eight replicate determination of 0.5 μg mL−1 of manganese in the final solution is 0.41%. The effects of the experimental parameters, including the sample pH, flow rates of sample and eluent solution, eluent type, breakthrough volume and interference ions, were studied for preconcentration of Mn(II) ions in detail to optimize the conditions. The method was successfully applied for separation, preconcentration and determination of manganese in different samples.