Spectrophotometric Determination of Trace Hg(II) in Cetyltrimethylammonium Bromide Media

The simple and convenient determination of trace Hg(II) with its 2-mercaptobenzothiazole (MBT) complex in cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) media has been studied. The UV-visible spectrum of Hg(II)-MBT complex in CTAB media had a good sensitivity and reproducibility. The Hg(II)-MBT complex in CTAB solution was very stable at pH 10.0 and could be quantitatively complexed if MBT were added to the sample solution more than 10 equivalent of Hg(II). The optimum concentration of CTAB was 0.001%. The calibration curve of Hg(II)-MBT complex with good linearity ($R^2$ = 0.9985) was obtained at the concentration range between $1.0{\times}10^-7$ and $1.0{\times}10^-5$ M in 0.001% CTAB media. The detection limit was $3.1{\times}10^-8$ M (6.2 ng m$L^{-1}$). Hg(II) in the synthetic samples and in the wastewater of the university's wastewater tank and the industrial wastewater tank could also be determined. Based on the experimental results, this proposed technique could be applied to the simple and convenient determination of trace Hg(II) in real samples.