Pulse polarographic determination of the complexation capacity of various organic phosphonates of heavy metals with the aid of design of experiments

This study presents the determination of the complexation capacity of phosphonates (ATMP, EDTMP, and DTPMP) by differential pulse polarography. All of them are non-volatile, stable in water samples, and resistant to hydrolysis. Therefore, their decomposition rate in natural water is low. The metal complexation capacity of these phosphonates was detected for cobalt, copper, and zinc ions. DTPMP is the best of the investigated chelating agents for these three metal ions. Owing to the environmental fate of aminocarboxylates, these were often replaced by phosphonates. Therefore, we compared NTA and EDTA with ATMP and EDTMP according to their Zn-CC and could find out approximately four times higher complexation of zinc ions by phosphonates than by aminocarboxylates. Furthermore, the interaction between phosphonates and the influence of iron ions on the Zn-CC were investigated by chemometric means. The design of experiments indicated no significant interaction in phosphonate mixtures but significant influence of iron ions. Thus, the complexation capacity of a mixture of ATMP. EDTMP, and DTPMP can be calculated by the addition of several individual Zn-CC of the phosphonates according to their percentage in the mixture. A similar calculation is impossible in the presence of iron ions. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.