Determination of Iron in Raw Materials, During Fabric Processing, and in Wastewaters of the Textile Industry

Abstract

Abstract The Schiff base 2-(2-pyridylmethyieneamino)phenol (PMAP) was investigated as a spectrophotometric reagent for determination of iron in caustic soda, cotton yarn and fabric, woolen fabric, and industrial water. The solution properties of Fe(III)-PMAP complexes were determined. At pH 4.4 and 5.6, Fe(III) forms stable complexes with PMAP, with molar absorption coefficients (ε) of 3.00 × 103 and 7.44 × 103/M.cm, respectively. Composition and cumulative stability constants were determined by the mole ratio method (MRM) and the mole fraction variation method (MFVM). At the lower pH (4.4), the predominant complex species in the solution obtained with both methods are ML2, with fairly good agreement of stability constants: log βML2 = 7.00 ± 0.04 with MRM and 7.31 ± 0.01 with MFVM. At the higher pH (5.6), the composition and stability constants of predominant complex species in the solution obtained with the 2 methods were not in good agreement, perhaps because of the coexistence of several species, such as Fe-PMAP, Fe-hydroxo, and Fe-acetate complexes. PMAP is a sensitive reagent for determination of Fe(III). The detection limit of 0.4 μg/mL is lower than those of other frequently used spectrophotometric reagents for Fe. The reagent is ecologically more acceptable, because extraction with organic solvents is avoided. All measurements were made at pH 5.6 because sensitivity was higher at this pH. The high Fe values obtained for industrial water (31.8 μg/mL) indicate that some modifications in the process have to be done. Concentration of Fe in wastewater was much lower (15.9 μg/mL). The results for cotton and woolen fabric indicate that accumulation of Fe in wool is much higher than in cotton (84.4 μg/mL and 29.3-53.1 μg/mL, respectively).