Separation and determination of iron and manganese in water using polyhydroxyl polyurethane foam

The polyhydroxyl-polyurethane foam (PPF) was used as a new sorbent for separation, preconcentration and determination of manganese and iron ions in natural samples. Experimental conditions for effective separation of trace levels of the metal ions were optimized with respect to different experimental parameters in batch and dynamic processes. The maximum sorption of Mn(II) and Fe(III) was in the pH range of 6–8. The kinetics of sorption of the Mn(II) and Fe(III) by the PPF was found to be fast with an average value of half-life of sorption (t1/2) of 11.7 min. The sorption capacity of PPF was 8.7 μmol g−1 and the recovery of tested ions 99–100% was achieved. The lower detection limit, 0.08 μg L−1 was evaluated using spectrophotometric method. The relative standard deviation (RSD) under optimum conditions is 1.3% (n = 5). The bonding of the studied metal ions by the PPF is useful for the removal of metal contamination from real samples.