Determination of fluoride in rocks, soils, and fluoride-bearing minerals by separation using direct distillation in sulfuric acid medium and spectrophotometric analysis

Abstract An analytical method for fluoride determination in geological samples is proposed. It is based on a previous fluoride separation by distillation with a Teflon reactor. The variables that influence distillation quantitation (temperature, time, and acid concentration) are optimized. The influence of some species on fluoride recovery during distillation are studied, and conditions to avoid this influence are suggested. Fluoride determination is carried out by means of a spectrophotometric method [La(III)-F−-Alizarin complexone system] (N. T. Crosby, A. L. Dennis, and J. G. Stevens, Analyst (London), 1968, 93, 643–652). The method is applied to the analysis of soils, rocks, and fluorid…