Simultaneous detection of anions and cations in mineral water by two dimensional ion chromatography

A two dimensional ion chromatography (2D-IC) method was improved for the simultaneous determination of six cations and seven anions using one-valve switching after injection and conductivity detector. The trap conditions and valve-switch timing were optimized. The method has good accuracy and sensitivity for the simultaneous separation of inorganic anions and cations with a mean correlation coefficient of >0.99, repeatability of 0.60%–3.0% for eight replicates, reproducibility of 0.78%–3.1%, and spiked recovery rate of 88.7%–110%. The method was successfully applied to the analysis of inorganic anions and cations in four kinds of mineral water and can completely satisfy the demand of water quality monitoring.