Kinetic spectrophotometric method for the determination of sulphide

A kinetic method for the determination of sulphide and sulphur in steel with Brilliant Cresyl Blue(BCB) in the presence of Se(IV) is described. The reaction has been monitored spectrophotometrically by measuring the decrease in absorbance of BCB after 2 min from initiation of the reaction at 30 degrees C. The method enables rapid analysis of sulphide over the concentration range of 0.30-10.0 mu g/ml. The limit of detection is 0.2 mu g/ml of sulphide. Ten replicate analyses of a sample containing 0.30 and 0.60 mu g/ml of sulphide gave a relative standard deviation of 2.5% and 1.9%, respectively. The method has also been applied for estimation of sulphide in water and steel samples.