The classic technique for sulfate analysis in an undergraduate quantitative analysis lab involves precipitation as the barium salt with barium chloride, collection of the precipitate by gravity filtration using ashless filter paper, and removal of the filter paper by charring over a Bunsen burner.  The entire process is time-consuming, hazardous, and frequently yields poor results.  Titrimetric methods are much faster, but a good indicator has not been found for sulfate titrations.  However, because the relative concentrations of ions in solution change during a titration sequence, monitoring conductivity during the progress of a titration produces a signal which can be used to indicate the equivalence point.  The goal of this research project was to determine the viability of conductometric titrations for the quantitative analysis of sulfates and develop the procedure into an undergraduate chemistry lab experiment.<br/>

Determination of sulfate by conductometric titration: An undergraduate laboratory experiment

251st National Meeting (2016)

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.