XAD-4 resin impregnated with oxytetracycline for the online preconcentration of zirconium (IV) from environmental and geological samples

Oxytetracycline impregnated XAD-4 resin was prepared and then used for the online preconcentration of zirconium (IV) from aqueous solution. HCl was used for the elution of zirconium from the complex retained on XAD-4 resin. Arsenazo-III solution was used as chromogenic reagent for the spectrophotometric determination of eluted zirconium (IV) ions. The developed system showed greater sensitivity and selectivity as compared to many reported methods. The current study achieved a detection limit of 0.47 and 0.10 mu gL(-1), preconcentration factor of 52 and 247 and sample throughput of 40 and 10 samples per hour for concentration range from 10 to 60 mu g L-1 (60s preconcentration time) and from 2 to 12 mu gL(-1) (300s preconcentration time) respectively. The method was successfully applied for the determination of Zirconium (IV) from spiked water and IAEA-soil sample.