Chloroform Aided Extraction Spectrophotometric Determination of Rhenium Using Thiocyanate Complexing Agent

A new technique is developed for quantitative determination of rhenium in aqueous media containing molybdenum,iron and copper ions. The method seems easier and more accurate than the traditional ones. It consists of the formation of rhenium thiocyanate complex, which is extracted with chloroform at the presence of hydrochloric acid.This complex is a highly visible light absorbent that can easily be detected with the aid of a spectrophotometer. The maximum absorbance (λmax) observed for this complex was in the visible range of 430～435 nm. The experimental results showed that in a concentration range from 0.5～8 mg/L, the absorbance behavior of the rhenium thiocyanate complex is followed to the Beer-Lambert law.