Liquid chromatographic analysis of low-alloy steel samples

The isolation of transition and rare earth elements from low-alloy steels by liquid chromatography (LC) with post-column reaction detection is described. The eluted metal ions are detected with a UV-visible spectrophotometric detector after post-column complexation with 4-(2-pyridylazo)resorcinol and Arsenazo-III. The requirements and characterization of the post-column reaction for the sensitive detection of metal ions after LC separation are discussed. The results are compared with those of other methods such as atomic absorption spectrometry and inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry.