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Friday, July 16, 2021

Advantages and disadvantages of complexometric titration

Learn the various advantages and disadvantages of complexometric titration.

Titration is the most popular laboratory technique as a quantitative and volumetric method for determining the unknown concentration of a solute in the presence of an indicator by comparing it to the known concentration of a solution. It can be performed in various ways such as acid-base titrations, redox titrations, precipitation titration, and complexometric titrations which depend on the sample and goal.


Complexometric titration (chelatometry) is a type of volumetric analysis used to quantify metal ions by employing complex-formation reactions, in which the evolution of a colored complex is used to define the titration end-point. In complexometric titrations, an indicator is employed to indicate the endpoint or equivalance point of the titration process, which is based on the development of a complex between the analyte and the titrant. This is a useful method for finding the concentration of metal ions and determination of water hardness using EDTA with Eriochrome black-T as the indicator in a sample solution.

The complexometric titration using EDTA can take many types, including direct titration, back titration, replacement titration, and indirect titration, etc. It is used in the pharmaceutical industry, analytical chemistry, environmental analysis, and food analysis to estimate the concentration of metal ions in sample solutions. The visual method and the instrumental method are used to detect the endpoint of a complexometric titration. pH indicators, metallochromic or PM indicators, and redox indicators are examples of visual methods, while photometry and potentiometry are examples of instrumental methods.

Advantages of complexometric titration:

  • The major advantage of complexometric titrations is that they are particularly useful for the determination of mixtures of different metal ions in solution.
  • The reaction can be identifying visually at equilibrium or endpoint.
  • Complexometric titrations can also be performed using instruments that give more accurate results.
  • As it has a simple process, it does not require great expertise, skills, and practice.
  • It is a cost-effective technique since it does not require the use of expensive chemicals, apparatus, and glasswares.

Disadvantages of complexometric titration:

  • The major disadvantage of complexometric titration is that it is a destructive method that often uses relatively large amounts of the substance being analyzed.
  • Since this is an open system, certain factors such as humidity pH, and temperature can affect the results.
  • This can result in a large amount of chemical waste, which must be disposed of.
  • This requires reactions to occur in a liquid phase, which is generally undesirable due to the chemical of interest.

Advantages of using EDTA in complexometric titration?

The advantage of using EDTA in complexometric titration is that it can act as a ligand and can bind to coordination centers, which are generally metals to produce colored complexes.



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