On-line solid-phase separation/preconcentration for the determination of copper in urine by flame atomic absorption spectrometry

•The method was applied to the urine samples taken from Wilson’s patients.•The on-line determination of copper and satisfactory results were obtained.•All processes are made automatically by the system itself in the proposed method.

A new on-line separation/preconcentration system was developed for the determination of Cu(II) ions by flame atomic absorption spectrometry in urine samples. A newly synthesized chelating resin, by anchoring eriochrome blue black R reagent to Amberlite XAD-16 resin, was used as a packing material for the selective separation/preconcentration of Cu(II) ions. The influence of the parameters on the determination of Cu(II) ions such as pH of sample solution, amount of the resin, eluent type, interfering ions and flow variables was studied. The detection limit of the method was 1.0 μg L− 1 while precision was 2.3% (n = 15) at 50 μg L− 1 Cu(II) level. The adsorption capacity of the resin was 217 μg g− 1 Cu(II). The accuracy of the method was proven using TMDA-64 standard lake water and synthetic urine sample. The developed method has been applied successfully to the determination of copper in urine with satisfactory results.

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