Sodium azide has been widely used as a major component in many different industries such as production of pesticides, anti-hypertensives, anti-HIV drugs and explosives as well as preservatives[1-4].furthermore, azide salts are very toxic compound implicated in many poisoning cases [5]. Recently, a new kind of carbon based nano-materials, multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs), have been used in many analytical fields. The potential of MWNTs as a solid phase extraction (SPE) adsorbents for the pre-concentration of environmental pollutants has been investigated in the recent years [6]. We have reported a simple, sensitive and inexpensive kinetic spectrophotometric method for determination of azide ion after separation using magnetic nanocomposites that have been modified by surfactant as a sorbent. The preparation of magnetic nanocomposites was carried out in two different ways. In the first one, the raw carbon nanotubes were functionalized (Carboxylated) and iron oxide particles were placed on their surfaces. In the second process, iron oxide particles were placed on the carbon nanotubes directly. Efficiency of these two methods were examined. Taguchi method was applied as an experimental design to determine optimum conditions. Under optimal conditions, the linear range of azide ion 0.05-1.0 (μg.mL-1), detection limit of 0.015 (μg.mL-1) with reproducibility of 2.15% were obtained. This technique was successfully used for determination of azide ion in well, tap and mineral waters.

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