Simultaneous determination of peroxydisulfate and conventional inorganic anions by ion chromatography with the column-switching technique

The application of ion chromatography with the column-switching technique for the simultaneous analysis of peroxydisulfate and conventional inorganic anions in a single run is described. With this method, conventional inorganic anions were separated by consecutive elution through both the guard column and separation column, but peroxydisulfate that only passed through the guard column had a good peak shape and short retention time. A series of standard solutions consisting of target anions of various concentrations from 0.01 to 75 mg/L were analyzed, with a correlation coefficient (r) >= 0.9990. The limits of detection were in the range of 0.49-9.84 mu g/L based on the S/N of 3 and a 25 mu L injection volume. RSDs for retention time, peak area, and peak height were all <1.77%. A spiking study was performed with satisfactory recoveries between 97.6 and 103.4% for all anions. The quantitative determination of peroxydisulfate and conventional inorganic anions in surface waters was accomplished within 18 min by this column-switching technique.