Thallium (III) ion-imprinted polymer (IIP) particles were synthesized by preparing the ternary ‎complex of thallium (III) ions with 5, 7- dichloroquinoline-8-ol (DCQ) and 4-vinylpyridine (VP). ‎Thermal copolymerization with methyl methacrylate (functional monomer, MMA) and ‎ethyleneglycoldimethacrylate (cross-linking monomer, EGDMA) was then performed in the presence ‎of acetonitrile (porogen) and 2, 2 azobisisobutyronitrile (initiator, AIBN). The imprinted ion was removed ‎from polymer by stirring of the above particles with 5M HNO3 to obtain the leached IIP particles. Moreover, ‎control polymer (CP) particles were similarly prepared without the thallium (III) ions. The unleached and ‎leached IIP particles were characterized by surface area analysis (BET ), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier ‎transform infra-red spectroscopy (FT-IR), thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA) and scanning electron ‎microscopy (SEM).The preconcentration of the thallium (III) from aqueous solution was studied during rebinding with ‎the leached IIP particles as a function of pH, the weight of the polymer material, the uptake and desorption times, the ‎aqueous phase and the desorption volumes. Electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry (ETAAS) was employed ‎for determination of thallium in aqueous solution. The limit of detection for the method was ‎‎0.02ngmL-1, while the relative standard deviation for five replicates was 2.6%.‎

Keywords