Determination of thorium by adsorptive type chemically modified electrode with a polycomplex system

A preconcentration and determination method for thorium in aqueous solution with a tri-n-octylphosphine oxide modified glassy carbon electrode is proposed. In the presence of 2-thenoyltrifluoroacetone, thorium in NaAc-HAc supporting electrolyte is preconcentrated on a modified rotating disk electrode, and a highly sensitive reduction peak is obtained by cathodic stripping voltammetry at –1.10 V versus Ag/AgCl. A linear response of reduction peak height and concentration is observed for 1.15×10^–9–1.44×10^–8 mol·1^–1 of thorium and the detection limit is 1.0×10^–9mol·1^–1. It is very selective and sensitive, with a standard deviation of 3.4% and a recovery of 90–110%.