Field determination of fluoride in drinking water using a polymeric aluminium complex of 5-(2-carboxyphenylazo)-8-hydroxyquinoline impregnated paper

A simple field method which allows the determination of fluoride in drinking water with a small handheld instrument called Arsenator was developed. Arsenator is a commercially available instrument which was used successfully for reliable determination of arsenic. In the proposed method the functionality of the Arsenator which is based on a photometric measurement of a spot on the reagent paper is expanded to analyse fluoride. A polymeric aluminium complex of 5-(2-carboxyphenylazo)-8-hydroxyquinoline (LH2) has been prepared as a new specific reagent for fluoride. Job's method of continuous variation was adopted for the determination of the composition of the coloured complex, which was further characterized by UV-VIS spectroscopic studies. The molar absorptivity of the complex formation is 8.48 × 103 L mol−1 cm−1 at 410 nm. The coloured complex reacts with fluoride on an impregnated paper where its colour changes are dependent on the concentration of fluoride in water samples. The change in the colour was measured using the Arsenator. The method allows a reliable determination of fluoride in the range 0.3 to 2.0 mg L−1. Further spectophotometric determinations of fluoride in drinking water were also studied. The determination is based on the reaction of aluminium complex with fluoride in the examined samples. Beer's law is obeyed in the range 0.3 to 2.0 mg L−1 of fluoride at 495 nm. Sensitivity, detection limit and quantitation limit of the method were found to be 0.251 ± 0.007 µg−1 mL, 0.1 mg L−1 and 0.3 mg L−1, respectively. The optimum reaction conditions and other analytical conditions were evaluated. The effect of interfering ions on the determination is described. There is no interference by nitrate or chloride. Sulphate interfered only at high concentrations which are not expected in drinking water.