Conductometric determination of ammonium ion with a mobile drop

A mobile drop based approach was utilized for the conductometric determination of aqueous ammonium ion. A liquid drop was manipulated by gravity to remain or move out of a conductivity measurement zone located on a hydrophobic path. A dilute sulfuric acid drop functioned as a micro gas absorber. Gaseous NH3 was liberated from a sample containing NH4(+) by adding NaOH and purged to flow over the absorber drop. As H(+) in the absorber drop was converted to NH4(+), the conductivity decreased. The rate of the conductivity decrease thus ultimately depended on the NH4(+) concentration in the sample. While the sample could be complex, the liberation of NH3 gas essentially freed the analyte of interest from the matrix and allowed the use of an otherwise nonselective detector. The system was applied to the determination of NH4(+) in some natural waters without prior filtration; the results agreed well with those from a manual indophenol blue method. The approach exhibited a limit of detection (LOD) of 5 μM and a relative standard deviation (RSD) of<5%. The mobile drop gave a constant volume of the gas absorbing solution and provided a cost-effective and simple analytical platform.