Technical Note: A procedure for the preparation and quantitative analysis of samples for titanium dioxide

Abstract

A procedure was developed for the rapid analysis of titanium dioxide (TiO2) concentrations in feed and fecal samples. Samples were digested in concentrated H2SO4 for 2 h, followed by addition of 30% H2O2, and absorbance was measured at 410 nm. Standards were prepared by spiking blanks with increasing amounts of TiO2, resulting in a linear standard curve. Complete analysis using this procedure can typically be accomplished within 4.5 h. This procedure was compared to a previously published dry-ash procedure for the analysis of TiO2 in bovine fecal samples. Three sources of OM devoid of TiO 2 (a forage sample, a bovine fecal sample without Cr 2O3, and a bovine fecal sample containing Cr 2O3) were spiked with graded amounts (0, 2, 4, 6, 8, or 10 mg) of TiO2. With our procedure, TiO2 recoveries averaged 96.7, 97.5, and 98.5%, for the three OM sources, respectively, vs. 74.3, 83.8, and 53.1% for the same samples analyzed using the dry-ash method. These results suggest that our procedure is a rapid and accurate alternative to dry-ash procedures for the determination of TiO2. © 2004 American Society of Animal Science. All rights reserved.