Synthesis and characterization of a new inorganic cation-exchanger-Zr(IV) tungstomolybdate: Analytical applications for metal content determination in real sample and synthetic mixture

An amorphous sample of inorganic cation-exchanger Zr(IV) tungstomolybdate was prepared by mixing varying ratios of 0.1 M aqueous solution of sodium tungstate and 0.1 M aqueous solution of sodium molybdate into 0.1 M aqueous solution of zirconium oxychloride at pH 1. This cation-exchanger was found to have a good ion-exchange capacity (2.40 mequiv. g−1 for Na+), high thermal and chemical stability. A tentative structural formula was proposed on the basis of chemical composition, FTIR and thermogravimetric analysis. Distribution coefficients (Kd) values of metal ions in various solvent systems were determined. Some important and analytically difficult quantitative binary separations viz. Ni(II)-Pb(II), Ni(II)-Zn(II), Ni(II)-Cd(II), Mg(II)-Al(III), etc. were achieved. The practical applicability of the cation-exchanger was demonstrated in the separation of Cu(II)-Zn(II) from a synthetic mixture as well as from real samples of pharmaceutical formulation and brass alloy.