THIN LAYER CHROMATOGRAPHY OF BAUXITE: INSTRUMENTAL CHARACTERISATION AND QUANTIFICATION BY SCANNING DENSITOMETRY

摘要

Thin layer chromatography (TLC) principles were successfully used for the characterisation of various elements present in bauxites. The chromatographic characteristics have been evaluated on silica gel and cellulose layers developed with double distilled water and aqueous sodium chloride solutions. The densitometric evaluations of chromatograms of Al, Fe, Ti and Si in bauxites have shown a percentage recovery of 98±2. The method developed was successfully extended to the characterisation of organic impurities (< 0.2) in bauxites by coupling TLC procedures with FTIR spectroscopy. The characteristic functional groups for some organic compounds were identified in the IR spectra. The advantages of these methods over the conventional methods of characterisation were also presented.