Aerosol-OT micelles in Sephadex gels for concentrating metal-dithizone chelates from water

Anionic surfactants, sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), and di-2-ethylhexyl sodium sulfosuccinate (Aerosol-OT, AOT), were incorporated into a hydrated macroreticular anion-exchanger such as a DEAE- or QAE-Sephadex A-25 gel. The observation of fluorescence spectra of N-phenyl-1-naphthlamine indicated the formation of the surfactant micelles in gels. The hydrophobicity of the micelles corresponded to octanol, tetrahydrofuran, or ethyl acetate. A hydrophobic chelating agent, dithizone (1,5-diphenylthiocarbazone), and its metal chelates were incorporated into the Sephadex gels. The complex formation with dithizone and the subsequent adsorption on Sephadex gels required 10 min. The metals collected in gels were desorbed with 8 M nitric acid. As a result of 300-fold concentrations, traces of heavy metal ions at ng l−1 levels in river water were successfully determined by graphite-furnace atomic absorption spectrometry.