Solid phase extraction of trace amounts of praseodymium using transcarpathian clinoptilolite

Abstract

Sorptive properties of the Transcarpathian clinoptilolite towards Pr(III) were studied under dynamic conditions. The sorption capacity of clinoptilolite under optimal conditions (sorbent grain diameter of 0.20–0.31 mm; pH 9.0, temperature of preliminary precalcination of 350◦C, and flow rate of the Pr(III) salt solution with the concentration of 1.0 µg·mL−1 through the sorbent of 5 mL·min−1) was equal to 47.5 mg·g−1. The best desorbent of Pr from the clinoptilolite was the 1 M solution of KCl acidified with HCl to a pH value of 3.0. The method of Pr(III) trace amounts preconcentration in a solid phase extraction mode with further determination of this REE via spectrophotometric technique was developed. The linearity of the proposed method was evaluated in the range of 2–100 ng·mL−1 with detection limit of 0.7 ng·mL−1.