A method for the determination of scandium in monazite and environmental samples at trace levels is
presented. The Sc(III) complex is preconcentrated using the cloud point extraction process with the
nonionic surfactant Triton X-100 to extract the Sc(III) complex from aqueous solutions of pH 5.5. Sc(III)
ions were complexed with 2-amino-4-(m-tolyazo)pyridine-3-ol (ATAP) as a complexing agent in
aqueous medium and concentrated by Triton X-100 as surfactant. After the phase separation at 45
C
based on the cloud point extraction of the mixture, the surfactant-rich phase was dried and the
remaining phase was dissolved with 0.5 mL of dimethylformamide. Under the optimum conditions, the
calibration curve is linear for the concentration range of 0.4–65 ng mL1 and the detection limit was
0.12 ng mL1. The enhancement factor of 500 was achieved for 250 mL samples containing the analyte
with RSDs $1.10%. The method is highly selective, fairly sensitive, simple, rapid, economical and safely
applied to determine Sc(III) ions in different complex materials, such as monazite and environmental
samples.