New SPE Sorbent for the Rapid and Sensitive Quantification of Aluminium in Food, Soil Extracts and Water Samples

An on-line solid-phase extraction (SPE) technique, linked to spectrophotometry, has been developed to overcome the problem of high matrix concentration, which is thought to interfere with the determination of low levels of aluminum in environmental samples. Aurintricarboxylic acid (ATCA) modified resin was prepared and used as a SPE absorbent, which can quantitatively adsorb Al(III) at pH 4.5–6.5 with an adsorption capacity of 10.8 mg g–1 resin. The main advantages of this novel method are: (1) a much higher sensitivity has been obtained by SPE technology; and (2) a large amount of Na, K, Ag, Hg, Ca, and Mg, can be removed and the interference of Fe(III) and F- can be efficiently eliminated by eluting with 0.30 mol L–1 NaOH. It is a highly selective and sensitive method for simple and quick determination of Al in food samples (rice, tea and potato), soil, waste water, river waters, spring water and ground water samples.