Abstract

A simple and fast throughput flow injection (FI) system with a merging-zone technique was designed to determine ferrous and ferric in an aqueous solution. The method is based on the direct reaction of ferrous with a Bathophenanthroline reagent (Bphen) in acidic media. The forming red complex absorbs light at 533 nm. All conditions of the flow injection system were investigated. The analytical curve of ferrous was linear in the range of 0.07 to 4 mg/L with an r² value of 0.9968. The detection and quantification limits were 0.02 and 0.04 mg/L, respectively. The molar absorptivity and Sandell's sensitivity were 4.0577 × 10⁶ L/mol cm and 25 × 10^-5 ㎍/cm², respectively. The homemade valve was low-cost with high repeatability (n = 7) at an RSD of 1.26 % and zero dead volume. The values of the dispersion coefficient were 2.318, 2.022, and 1.636 for the concentrations of 0.2, 1, and 3 mg/L, respectively. The analysis throughput of the designed flow injection unit was 57 sample per hour.