Application of Polyurethane Foam Loaded with a Schiff Base Ligand for Determination of Trace Amounts of Copper in Water Samples by Flame Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy

A column solid phase extraction procedure based on modified polyurethane foam (PUF) by a newly synthesized Schiff base ionophore, named 2,2'-{iminobis[propane-3,1-diylnitrilo(1E)prop-1-yl-1-ylidene]}diphenol, was developed for preconcentration step of trace amounts determination of copper ions in water samples by atomic absorption flame spectroscopy. The influence of parameters on the adsorption process such as sample pH, amount of modified PUF packed in the column, type and volume of stripping reagent and its flow rate were investigated and optimized. Under optimum experimental conditions, the calibration graph was linear in a relatively wide range ($0.005-210{\mu}g/ml$) with a limit of detection $0.002{\mu}g/ml$ of copper. The proposed method allows achieving to a concentration factor of >133. The capacity of a column (1.6 cm i.d.) packed by 6 g of PUF modified by 12 mg of the Schiff base was found to be $247.7({\pm}2.1){\mu}g$ of copper. It was found that the adsorption process was highly selective towards copper ions with respect to some associated metal ions. The presented procedure was successfully applied for determination of copper in some water samples.