Partition/Ion-Exclusion Chromatographic Ion Stacking for the Analysis of Trace Anions in Water and Salt Samples by Ion Chromatography

A new analytical methodology for a simple and efficient on-line preconcentration of trace inorganic anions in water and salt samples prior to ion chromatographic determination is proposed. The preconcentration method is based on partition/ion-exclusion chromatographic ion stacking (PIEC ion stacking) with a hydrophilic polymer gel column containing a small amount of fixed anionic charges. The developed on-line PIEC ion stacking-ion chromatography method was validated by recovery experiments for the determination of nitrate in tap water in terms of both accuracy and precision, and the results showed the reliability of the method. The method proposed was also successfully applied to the determination of trace impurity nitrite and nitrate in reagent-grade salts of sodium sulfate. A low background level can be achieved since pure water is used as the eluant for the PIEC ion stacking. It is possible to reach sensitive detection at sub-μg L^-1 levels by on-line PIEC ion stacking-ion chromatography.