Flame atomic absorption determination of zirconium in glass and refractory bricks after coprecipitation with aluminium hydroxide

A simple preconcentration method for zirconium based on coprecipitation with aluminium hydroxide prior to flame atomic absorption (FAAS) determination was established. The recovery values of the analyte ions were higher than 95%. Such parameters as the type of hydroxide ion source for precipitation, type of acid for the dissolution step, amount of Al3+ ion as the collector, pH, temperature, standing time and centrifuge time were optimized using 50 mL of a solution containing 150 μg of zirconium. The effect of the solution volume and influences of matrix ions on the extraction of the analyte were also examined. Under the optimum conditions, the calibration curve was linear up to 10 mg L−1. The relative standard deviation for solutions containing 150 μg of zirconium was found to be 3.9%. The limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantitation (LOQ) were calculated as 0.17 and 0.57 mg L−1, respectively. The method is capable of extracting the analyte in different samples with volumes of up to 250 mL. The preconcentration factor for 250 mL and enhancement factor for 50 mL of analyte solution were calculated to be 250 and 40, respectively. The proposed method was successfully applied for the determination of zirconium in glass and refractory brick samples.