Eliminating H₂S and Any Sulfide Reagents from Qualitative Inorganic Analysis: An Ultimate Solution to a Long-Standing Problem

Detection of metal ions in solution has been performed without employing H2S or any other sulfide materials. The new method is free from the interference from anions. Identification of Na+, K+, and NH4+ has been made possible directly from an aqueous extract of the sample mixture. A technique has been developed to identify Mg2+ directly without group separation. Metal ions have been classified into four groups by sequential treatment with 5 N HCl, Na2SO4, and 5 N NaOH as group reagents. In comparison to the existing method, it is much faster and, at the same time, reliable enough.