The effect of copper on iron reduction and its application to the determination of total iron content in iron and copper ores by potassium dichromate titration

Abstract

The International Standard Organization (ISO) specifies two titrimetric methods for the determination of total iron content in iron ores using potassium dichromate as titrant after reduction of the iron(III) by tin(II) chloride and/or titanium(III) chloride. These two ISO methods (ISO2597-1 and ISO2597-2) require nearly boiling-point temperature for iron(III) reduction and suffer from copper interference and/or mercury pollution. In this study, potassium borohydride was used for reduction of iron(III) catalyzed by copper ions at ambient temperatures. In the absence of copper, iron(III) reduction by potassium borohydride was sluggish while a trace amount of copper significantly accelerated the reduction and reduced potassium borohydride consumption. The catalytic mechanism of iron(III) reduction in sulfuric acid and hydrochloric acid was investigated. Potassium borohydride in sodium hydroxide solution was stable without a significant degradation within 24h at ambient conditions and the use of potassium borohydride prepared in sodium hydroxide solution was safe and convenient in routine applications. The applicability of potassium borohydride reduction for the determination of total iron content by potassium dichromate titration was demonstrated by comparing with the ISO standard method using iron and copper ore reference materials and iron ore samples.

Keywords: Colorimetry; Dichromate titration; Iron and copper ores; Potassium borohydride; Total iron content.