Synthesis and application of a novel nanostructured ion-imprinted polymer for the preconcentration and determination of thallium(I) ions in water samples.

A novel synthesized nanostructured ion-imprinted polymer (IIP) was investigated for the determination of trace amount of thallium(I). For this purpose, the thallium(I) IIP particles were synthesized using methacrylic acid (MAA) as the functional monomer, ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) as the cross-linker, methyl-2-[2-(2-2-[2-(methoxycarbonyl) phenoxy] ethoxyethoxy) ethoxy] benzoate as the chelating agent and 2,2-azobisisobutyronitrile (AIBN) as the initiator. The prepared IIP particles were characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA). Various experimental factors such as pH, the amount of IIP particles, sorption and desorption time, sample volume, elution condition, and potentially interfering ions systematically examined. Under the optimum conditions, a sensitive response to Tl(I) within a wide concentration range (0.05-18 μg L(-1)) was achieved. The limit of detection (LOD, 3Sb/m) was 6.3 ng L(-1). The maximum adsorption capacity of the novel imprinted adsorbent for Tl(I) was calculated to be 18.3 mg g(-1). The relative standard deviation (RSD) for eight replicate detections of 0.1 μg L(-1) of thallium(I) was found to be 4.0%. An enrichment factor (EF) of 100 was obtained by this method. The proposed technique was successfully applied to monitoring thallium in different water samples and the certified reference material.