Cascade ultrafiltration and competing ligand exchange for kinetic speciation of aluminium, iron, and nickel in fresh water

Kinetic speciation of nickel, aluminium, and iron in fresh water has been investigated by cascade ultrafiltration followed by competing ligand exchange of the ultrafiltered fractions. Graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry was used to measure the kinetics of metal complex dissociation. Dissolved metal species were fractionated by cascade ultrafiltration. Metal speciation in each ultrafiltered fraction was then characterized as free metal ions, "labile" metal complexes (with dissociation rate constants >/=10(-3) s(-1)), "slowly labile" metal complexes (with dissociation rate constants >10(-6) s(-1)), and "inert" metal complexes (with dissociation rate constants