Separation of lead-203 from cyclotron-bombarded thallium targets by ion-exchange chromatography

A simple method is presented for the separation of lead-203 from copper-backed thallium cyclotron targets. The procedure involves cation-exchange chromatography in hydrochloric acid and hydrochloric acid-acetone mixtures. Further purification involves anion-exchange chromatography in nitric acid-hydrobromic acid mixtures. A cation-exchange column containing 3.0 g of resin can handle as much as 15 g of thallium and 160 mg of copper. An anion-exchange column containing 3.0 g of resin can separate lead from up to 200 mg of thallium and 10 mg of copper. Separations are extremely sharp and less than 0.1 mug of thallium and less than 0.1 mug of copper remain in the lead-203 fraction.     

Separation of bismuth from gram amounts of thallium and silver by cation-exchange chromatography in nitric acid

Traces and small amounts of bismuth can be separated from gram amounts of thallium and silver by successively eluting these elements with 0.3M and 0.6M nitric acid from a column containing 13 ml (3 g) of AG50W-X4, a cation-exchanger (100-200 mesh particle size) with low cross-linking. Bismuth is retained and can be eluted with 0.2M hydrobromic acid containing 20% v/v acetone, leaving many other trace elements absorbed. Elution of thallium is quite sharp, but silver shows a small amount of tailing (less than 1 gmg/ml silver in the eluate) when gram amounts are present, between 20 and 80 mug of silver appearing in the bismuth fraction. Relevant elution curves and results for the analysis of synthetic mixtures containing between 50 mug and 10 mg of bismuth and up to more than 1 g of thallium and silver are presented, as well as results for bismuth in a sample of thallium metal and in Merck thallium(I) carbonate. As little as 0.01 ppm of bismuth can be determined when the separation is combined with electrothermal atomic-absorption spectrometry.     

Spectrophotometric determination of thallium after its extraction as an ion-pair of the chloro-complex and pyronine G

A sensitive and selective procedure for the spectrophotometric determination of thallium is described. The method is based on the formation of an ion-pair between [TlCl(4)](-) and the pyronine G cation in chloride-containing acid media. The ion-pair is extracted into benzene and permits the determination of as low as 0.3 mug of thallium in a final volume of 25 ml at 530 nm. The system obeys Beer's law in the concentration range 1-14 mug of thallium in a final volume of 25 ml. Potassium iodate was found to be highly effective for the oxidation of Tl(I) to Tl(III) and the presence of excess oxidant does not interfere. The method can be used for the determination of thallium in high purity cadmium, cadmium sponge and rock samples.     

Separation of traces and larger amounts of bismuth from gram amounts of thallium, mercury, gold and platinum by cation-exchange chromatography on a macroporous resin

Traces and larger amounts of bismuth (up to 50 mg) can be separated from gram amounts of thallium, mercury, gold and platinum (up to 5 g) by sorption from a mixture of 0.1M hydrochloric acid and 0.4M nitric acid on a column containing just 3 g (8.1 ml) of AGMP-50, a macroporous cation-exchange resin. This resin retains bismuth much more strongly than does the usual microporous resin (styrene-DVB with 8% cross-linkage). Other elements are eluted with the same acid mixture as that used for sorption, and bismuth is finally eluted with 1.0M hydrochloric acid. Separations of bismuth are sharp and recoveries quantitative. Only microgram amounts of the other elements remain in the bismuth fraction. Amounts of bismuth as little as 5 mug have been separated from 5 g of thallium, and determined (r.s.d. = 2%) by flame atomic-absorption. Only 100-mug amounts of bismuth have been separated from gram amounts of mercury, gold, and platinum, but there is no reason to believe that smaller or larger amounts of bismuth cannot be separated from these elements and recovered with the same accuracy as that for the separation from thallium. The lower limit of the method is determination of 0.4 mug of bismuth in 10 ml of solution (0.004 absorbance). An elution curve, the relevant distribution coefficients and the results of analysis of synthetic mixtures and two practical samples [thallium metal and mercury(II) nitrate] are presented.     

Flow-injection fluorimetric determination of nabam and metham

A simple and sensitive flow-injection fluorimetric method was developed to determine nabam or metham in water and cereal samples. The procedure is based on the oxidation of these pesticides by thallium(III) with the concomitant formation of fluorescent thallium(I). Lineal calibration graphs were obtained between 0.25 and 2.56 muml(-1) for nabam, and between 0.26 and 2.65 mug ml(-1) for metham. The sampling rate was 80 samples h(-1). The method was satisfactorily applied to the direct analysis of water, wheat, barley and oat samples spiked with nabam or metham.     

Determination of the plant growth regulator beta-naphthoxyacetic acid by micellar-stabilized room temperature phosphorescence

This paper presents a method for the determination of the plant growth regulator beta-naphthoxyacetic acid (NOA) by micellar-stabilized room temperature phosphorescence with the surfactant Triton X-100 (TX-100) as the micellar medium, thallium nitrate as the heavy atom and sodium sulphite as the oxygen scavenger. A multivariate optimization approach using the blocked cube star design of central composite was carried out. The analytical curve of NOA gives a linear dynamic range of 0.4-3.0 mug ml(-1) and a detection limit of 0.13 mug ml(-1). A recovery of 93.6% was obtained for 1 mug ml(-1) NOA in spiked apple samples.     

Determination of indium and thallium by hydride generation and atomic-absorption spectrometry

Hydride generation coupled with atomic-absorption spectrometry was applied to the determination of indium and thallium. The hydrides were generated in 1M HCl (In) and 1-1.5M HCl or HNO(3) (Tl) with 1% NaBH(4) solution, and were flushed with argon into an electrically heated silica tube. The characteristic mass for indium and thallium were 0.13 and 0.12 mug, respectively.     

Spectrofluorometric determination of thallium(III) with pyrogallol red and 3,4,5,6-tetrachlorofluorescein

Summary A spectrofluorophotometric determination of thallium(III) is proposed. It is based on the enhancement of the fluorescence reaction of 3,4,5,6-tetrachlorofluorescein (TCF) with Pyrogallol Red (PR) by thallium(III) in the presence of Swanol (AM 301, lauryldimethyl aminoacetic acid betain) as an amphoteric surfactant. The method was found to be suitable for the determination of thallium(III) down to 4.0 g in 10.0 ml by measuring the difference in the relative fluorescence intensities of a TCF/PR/thallium(III) solution and a TCF/PR solution. The recovery test in artificial urine was satisfactory (96±2%).     

The separation of W(V) from HCl-KSCN medium on polyurethane foam sorbents for its spectrophotometric determination in steels and silicates

A simple procedure for selective sorption of tungsten is described. The method involves reduction of W(VI) to W(V) with tin(II) chloride (2%, w/v) at 8-9M hydrochloric acid, formation of the W(V)-SCN complex with 0.2M KSCN and its sorption on polyurethane foam within 20 min. The sorbed complex is then eluted with acidified acetone (1 ml of 1M hydrochloric acid and 8 ml of acetone) followed by addition of 1 ml of 0.1M KSCN to the eluent. The method has been applied to the spectrophotometric determination of tungsten in steels and silicates by measuring the absorbance of the eluted solution at 400 nm. Beer's law is obeyed for the range 0.1-12 mug W/ml. Other elements, e.g., Co(III) (50 mug/ml), Cu(II) (10 mug/ml), Ti(IV) (20 mug/ml), V(V) (10 mug/ml) and Mo(VI) (0.5 mug/ml) have no effect on the method. Interference of copper, up to 100 mug/ml has been eliminated by masking with thiourea and that due to molybdenum by prior separation with thioglycollic acid on PUF. The method has been verified with standard samples.     

Extraction and spectrophotometric determination of thallium(III) with thiothenoyltrifluoroacetone

A procedure is described for the extractive photometric determination of thallium(III) with thiothenoyltrifluoroacetone in carbon tetrachloride. Thallium(III) is extracted quantitatively at pH 4-5 and the bright yellow extract obeys Beer's law over the Tl(III) concentration range 2.5-17.5 mug/ml, at 440 nm. Thallium(III) can be determined in the presence of a large number of cations and anions.     

Selective preconcentration of thallium on modified silica gel for its determination by flame emission and absorption spectrometry

Thallium (0.02-20 mug) was successfully preconcentrated on silica gel C18 from 0.1M hydrochloric acid in the presence of various cationic surfactants as ion pairs with tetrachlorothallate(III), and subsequently eluted with 96% ethanol. Of various atomic spectrometric procedures considered, emission spectrometry in a nitrous oxide-acetylene flame is suitable for the final determination of thallium in plants, this is more sensitive for thallium than flame atomic absorption spectrometry.     

ICP–MS法测定铅精矿、锌精矿、混合铅锌矿中的铊

建立铅精矿、锌精矿、混合铅锌矿中铊的分析方法。试样采用盐酸、硝酸、硫酸消解,挥发除去硫,沉淀除去大部分铅和硅,用电感耦合等离子质谱(ICP–MS)法测定样品溶液中铊的含量。对基体及主要杂质元素的干扰情况及消除方法进行试验,优化了分析方法。铊含量在0.01~10μg/L的范围内具有良好的线性关系,线性相关系数大于0.999 9,检出限为0.001 8μg/L。测定结果的相对标准偏差为1.42%~3.96%(n=11),加标回收率为92.7%~106.8%。该方法简单、快速、准确,可用于铅锌精矿、混合铅锌矿中铊的测定。     

Extraction separation and electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometric determination of thallium in some sulfide minerals.

A method for thallium determination in some sulfide minerals (sphalerite, galena, orpiment and realgar) by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry has been proposed. Mineral samples were dissolved in a mixture of HNO3 and HCl. The effect of interfering elements (Zn, Pb and As) on the determination of Tl in the investigated minerals was studied. These investigations show that it is not possible to determine thallium directly from solutions obtained by dissolution of minerals in mineral acids, because these matrix elements tend to decrease the absorbance of thallium. Also, it was found that the investigated minerals contain iron that tends to increase the absorbance of thallium. Therefore, a method for extraction of thallium with isoamyl acetate from 10 mol/l HCl media was proposed. In these conditions, Zn, Pb and As remain in the inorganic phase, but iron and thallium are extracted into organic phase. Reextraction of iron from the organic layer was performed with 4 mol/l H2SO4. The determination of thallium was performed in the organic phase using Pd as modifier. The investigated sulfide minerals originated from different mines from the Republic of Macedonia. The relative standard-deviation range was between 2.20 to 3.92%. The detection limit of the method (calculated as 3SD of the blank) was found to be 0.05 microg/g.     

泡沫塑料富集–石墨炉原子吸收光谱法测定贝类水产品中痕量铊

采取微波消解的前处理手段消解样品,经泡沫塑料分离富集后,用石墨炉原子吸收光谱法测定贝类水产品中痕量铊。以1.5 mL Fe3+,2 mL H2O2和5%王水介质作为吸附体系将样品中铊分离富集,再以硝酸钯、抗坏血酸作为基体改进剂进行测定。铊的质量浓度在0～50μg/L范围内线性良好,相关系数为0.999 7,方法的检出限可达0.07μg/g。测定结果的相对别准偏差为1.53%～4.01%(n=7),加标回收率为87.1%～98.3%。泡沫塑料富集–石墨炉子吸收光谱法测定贝类水产品中痕量铊是一种准确、安全、便捷的检测方法。     

Determination of thallium(III) with novel arsenoxylphenylazo rhodanine after pre-concentration and separation

A new catalytic kinetic fluorescent method for determination of trace thallium(III) was investigated. The method was based on the catalytic effect of thallium on oxidation of 3-p-chlorophenyl-5-(2′-arsenoxylphenylazo) rhodanine (4ClRAAP) by hydrogen peroxide in potassium hydrogen phthalate-hydrochloric acid (pH?=?5.2). Under the optimum conditions the great increase of fluorescence intensity had a linear relationship against the concentration of thallium in the range of 0.43 to 10.0?µg?L^?1 with a detection limit of 2.6?×?10^?10?g?L^?1. The coexistent metal ions can be separated, and thallium can be enriched by polyamide, which greatly improved the selectivity and sensitivity of the system. The method was applied to determine trace amount of thallium in wine, water and mineral samples, with satisfactory results.     

Selective solid-phase extraction of trace thallium with nano-Al<Subscript>2</Subscript>O<Subscript>3</Subscript> from environmental samples

A novel sorbent, nano-Al₂O₃ was employed for the separation and preconcentration of thallium from aqueous solution in batch equilibrium experiments. It was found that the adsorption percentage of thallium ions was close to 100% at pH 4.5, and the desorption by 1.0 mL of 0.25 M HCl reached 99%. The adsorption equilibrium was well described by the Langmuir isotherm model with maximum adsorption capacity of 5.78 mg/g (20 ± 0.1°C). The enrichment factor values of Tl(III) was 25 for 25 mL sample. Detection limit of thallium (3σ, n = 11) equal to 0.8 μg/mL and relative standard deviation (2.4%) were obtained. The method has been successfully applied to the determination of trace thallium in some environmental samples and the certified reference material polymetallic nodule (GBW07296) with satisfactory results.     

Comparison of sample preparation methods based on proteolytic enzymatic processes for Se-speciation of edible mushroom (Agaricus bisporus) samples

A sequential sample preparation process was developed for the speciation analysis for Se-enriched edible mushroom, Agaricus bisporus containing 110.2 mug of total Se/g sample. Five different sample extraction methods were compared and the most efficient method (a three-step process involving the use of water extraction and two proteolytic enzymes - pepsin and trypsin) proved to be the most suitable for extracting selenium, with an extraction efficiency of 75%. As the analogues of these enzymes play an important role in human digestion the bioavailability of the selenium present in the sample was estimated. Selenocystine (SeCys(2)) and Se(IV) were detected in considerable amounts (27.7 mug Se/g sample and 46.4 mug Se/g sample, respectively). For the quality control of peak identification a spiking procedure was developed, using a low selenium mushroom containing 4.3 mug of total Se/g sample. During the analysis with HPLC-HHPN (Hydraulic High Pressure Nebuliser)-AFS complicated background effects and matrix problems were observed: stable and reproducible signals generated by the low selenium mushroom and the compounds used in sample preparation were detected. The three-step sample preparation method connected with the HPLC-HHPN-AFS system proved to be applicable for the speciation analysis of the Se-enriched Agaricus bisporus.     

Extraction-fluorimetric determination of microgram amounts of thallium with 2-phenylbenzo[8,9]quinolizino[4,5,6,7-fed]phenanthridinylium perchlorate

In 0.5 M hydrochloric acid medium, thallium(III) forms with 2-phenylbenzo [8,9]quinolizino[4,5,6,7-fed]phenanthridinylium perchlorate (PQPP) an ion-association compound which is extractable in isoamyl acetate. The extracted ion-pair has a mole ratio Tl/PQPP in 1:1 and has been used for the spectrofluorimetric determination of thallium in the concentration range 0.06–1.6 μg per 5 ml of organic layer. The interference of a large number of foreign ions has been investigated. The method is sensitive, accurate, precise, and specially useful for the determination of thallium in different materials with low contents of this element.     

Investigation by automated differential pulse anodic-stripping voltammetry of the problem of storage of dilute solutions

The storage of dilute solutions of metal ions before their laboratory analysis presents a difficult problem in the examination of many environmental samples. By utilizing the solution container as an electrochemical cell and employing the method of differential pulse anodic-stripping voltammetry at a hanging mercury drop electrode, it is shown that an automated read-out system in an enclosed environment can be developed for monitoring the solution-container interactions that occur over short or extended periods of time. In the present work, interactions of dilute solutions (1-10 mug/l.) of cadmium(II), lead(II), copper(II), zinc(II), and thallium(I) in glass, polyethylene and Teflon containers have been investigated at various pH values and in different ionic environments. The results demonstrate the importance of factors other than pH.     

Determination of thallium(III) by use of a mercury reductor

A convenient method has been developed for the determination of thallium(III) by using a mercury reductor. Thallium(III) is reduced to thallium(I) in 0.5–4N hydrochloric or sulphuric acid medium and the determination is completed by oxidative titration with potassium bromate. The method is extended to analysis of thallium(III)-thallium(I) and thallium(III)-iron(III) mixtures.