Separation and pre-concentration of palladium(II) from environmental and industrial samples by formation of a derivative of 1,2,4-triazole complex on Amberlite XAD-2010 resin

A simple separation/pre-concentration method was developed for extraction of Pd(II) in various environmental samples, based on its adsorption of 4-phenyl-5-{[(4-phenyl-5-pyridin-4-yl-4H-1,2,4-triazole-3-yl)thio]methyl}-4H-1,2,4-triazole-3-thyol (PPTTMET) complex on Amberlite XAD-2010 resin in a mini column. The ligand has high affinity for Pd(II) among many other metals that are taken into consideration. The flame atomic absorption spectrometry is employed to determine the concentration of Pd(II). The optimum working conditions which were determined are as follows: 0.05 mol L-1 HNO3 as working medium, 1.0 mol L-1 HCI in acetone as elution solvent, 0.75 mg of PPTTMET amount and 750 mL of sample volume. The system was independent from the flow rates between 3.1 and 23.1 mL min-1. The Pd(II) adsorption capacity of Amberlite XAD-2010 resin was found to be 12.8 mg g-1 and the enrichment factor was calculated as 375. The method was successfully applied for the determination of Pd(II) in motorway dust samples, anodic sludge, gold ore, industrial electronic waste materials and various water samples.