Kinetic-spectrophotometric determination of Sb(V) based on its reaction with iodide in the presence of methylene blue

A rapid, simple, and sensitive kinetic method is developed for the determination of trace amounts of Sb(V). The method is based on the reaction of Sb(V) with iodide in acidic media in the presence of methylene blue. The reaction was monitored spectrophotometrically by measuring the decrease in the absorbance at 664 nm by a fixed-time technique of 60 s. The method allowed the determination of Sb(V) at concentrations between 0.01 and 2.2 μg/mL. The limit of detection was 0.006 μg/mL and the relative standard deviation for ten replicate measurements of 0.5 μg/mL Sb(V) was 1.2%. The method was applied to the determination of Sb(V) in tap water and spring water with satisfactory results.