Determination of Total Sulfur in Molasses by Ion Chromatography

The molasses sample in a quartz flask filled with oxygen was combusted,and thus the sulfur in the sample was converted into its oxides which was absorbed by a 20 mL solution containing 5 drops of 30% H2O2 for 30 min to transform to sulfate. Then,the sulfate was determined with ion chromatography using Na2CO3/NaHCO3 (1.8:1.7,V/V) as the eluent. Hence,the total sulfur in molasses was determined. The method showed recovery of 94.2%~106.3%,dynamic linear range of 0.02~60.00 μg/mL and detection limit of 0.00324 μg/mL,suggesting it is liable when used to determine total sulfur in molasses samples because of its convenient sample manipulation,large scope of linearity,low detection limit,high accuracy and precision.