Spectrophotometric determination of Uranium through complex formation with roxarsone

Abstract

A new sensitive, accurate, and non-extractive spectrophotometric method was developed for the rapid determination of Uranium in pure form and Uranium ore using roxarsone . The procedure was based on the complex formation between Uranium (VI) and roxarsone. This showed maximum absorption at λmax 395 nm with a linear relationship in the concentration range from (20-100 µg mLˉ¹) with a molar absorptivity 9.57×10 3 (1mol -1 cm -1 ). Inductively Coupled Plasma mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS) was used in the study of the interferences caused by some metallic ions, which were effectively masked by tartaric acid and diethylenetriaminepenta-acetic acid (DTPA). The method holds its accuracy and precision well when applied to the determination of the studied Uranium in its pure form and Uranium ore .