Development of a Photometric Method to Measure Molecular Oxygen in Water

A photometric method to determine molecular oxygen in water was developed. When manganese(II) is oxidized by oxygen under alkaline conditions, the presence of polyphosphate can prevent precipitation due to a coacervate reaction. The oxidized manganese later dissolves in acid to form a pink Mn(III) species, which has a stable UV/vis spectrum. Monitoring of the oxygen concentration based on the absorbance of the pink Mn(III) species at 517 nm showed a strong correlation with both the Winkler method and an optical sensor. As a result, the present method can measure not only dissolved oxygen, but also fine bubbles oxygen in in the water sample with high reliability (0 - 26 mg dm-3, r2 = 0.9995). During this process, no significant interference from nitrite or metal ions was observed. The accuracy of the measurement was steady at high temperatures of the water samples (≤ 363 K).