Flow-injection systems for determination of trace manganese in various salts by catalytic photometric detection

Two flow-injection analysis (FIA) systems for the determination of trace manganese in salts are presented using highly sensitive catalytic detection based on the oxidation of 3,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid by hydrogen peroxide. Two different approaches, the use of a large sample volume injection in a usual FIA mode (system A) and on-line coupling of a cation-exchange separation column with detection in a continuous flow system (system B), have proved very effective for eliminating the blank peak problem and thus affording direct injection of a sample solution containing a large concentration of salt. The limits of determinations are 0.04 ppm and 0.01 ppm for systems A and B respectively, when a 5 g sample is used for preparing the 100 ml sample solution. The proposed FIA systems were satisfactorily applied to the determination of manganese at 0.03-1.59 ppm in solar salts (salts made by exposing brine to the sun) with good precision.