METHOD FOR DETERMINATION OF WATER SOLUBLE ZINC AND IRON
CONTENTS IN FERTILIZER SAMPLES
1. PURPOSE: Determination of Zinc (Zn) and Iron (Fe) in fertilizer samples. 2. EQUIPMENTS/APPARATUS: Analytical balance Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer Volumetric flask Funnel Filter Paper (Whatman No.1) Pipette Glass beaker 3. REAGENTS/CHEMICALS: Standard solutions of Zinc (1000 mg Zn / L stock solution) Iron (1000 mg Fe/ L stock solution) 4. METHOD: Aqueous Extraction. Place 1.00g test portion into 100 mL glass beaker. Add 75mL D.I water and boil 30 minutes. Filter in 1 Liter volumetric flask, washing filter with D.I water. Make the volume upto the mark with D.I water. Redilute if necessary. Determine concentration of element in solution (mg/L) from calibration curve or digital concentration readout following the standard operating parameters. Element Wavelength nm Flame Range g/ml Zinc 213.9 Air-C2H2 0.5-5 Iron 248.3 Air-C2H2 2-20 5. CALCULATIONS: Micronutrient concentration= Reading x dilution factor. 6. PRECAUTIONS / SAFETY REQUIREMENTS: a) Analyse Certified Reference Material, Zinc Sulphate or Iron sulphate as a standard. b) Take ample quantity of sample (approximately 200g) for grinding. Care should be taken that all the sample taken for grinding must pass through sieve to obtain homogeneous sample. c) Filter the sample in case of liquid sample. Use filtrate for further analysis. d) Follow the operating parameters of Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer mentioned in instrument operating manual.
7. REFERENCE / RELATED DOCUMENTS:
a. Official Methods of Analysis of AOAC International, 18th Edition, 2005, Current Through Revision, 4, 2011. Method No. 2.6.01 (AOAC Official Method 965.09), Fertilizers Chapter 2, Subchapter 6, Page 29-30 b. Operating manual of instrument Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer