Micellar thin-layer chromatographic separation of heavy metal cations: Effect of organic and inorganic additives on migration behavior

The migration behavior of heavy metal cations on cellulose layers using aqueous micellar, hydro-organic, and water-organic-surfactant mobile phases was investigated. Anionic, cationic, and nonionic surfactant systems were examined over a 0.001–5% concentration range. Brij-35, a nonionic surfactant capable of forming charged complexes with some metal ions, was identified as the best surfactant. The effect of the presence of organic additives, such as dimethylsulfoxide, dimethylformamide, methanol and acetone, on the mobility of metal ions was also studied. Acetone was found to be the most effective additive at 10% concentration with 3% Brij. Quantitative determination of UO₂ ²⁺ by spectrophotometry after preliminary thin-layer chromatographic (TLC) separation from Fe³⁺ and Hg²⁺ was also performed. A maximal recovery of 93% was obtained. This TLC method is rapid, with development times averaging 2 min.