Original scientific paper

Determination of Thallium Traces from Aqueous Solutions Using Iron(III) Hexamethylenedithiocarbamate as a Flotation Collector and Subsequent Electrothermal Atomic Absorption Spectrometry

Gorica Pavlovska ; Institute of Chemistry, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, St. Cyril and Methodius University, Skopje, Macedonia
Katarina Čundeva ; Institute of Chemistry, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, St. Cyril and Methodius University, Skopje, Macedonia
Trajče Stafilov orcid.org/0000-0002-9017-6768 ; Institute of Chemistry, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, St. Cyril and Methodius University, Skopje, Macedonia

Abstract

Hexamethyleneammonium hexamethylenedithiocarbamate (HMA-HMDTC) was used as a new flotation reagent for enrichment and separation of thallium traces from aqueous Solutions. HMA-HMDTC added to the first precipitate collector of hydrated iron(III) oxide (Fe₂O₃ ⋅ xH₂O) gives the second precipitate collector of iron(III) hexamethylenedithiocarbamate (Fe(HMDTC)₃). During the coprecipitation step, thallium ions are incorporated in the structure of the collector particles forming a sublate, which is separated from the processed water phase by flotation. After the preconcentration and separation step, a quantitative analysis is performed by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry (ETAAS). The diverse experimental parameters affecting the flotation efficiency were determined and optimized. It was ascertained by a proposed procedure that total thallium can be separated quantitatively by addition of 10 mg FeIII and 3 mL 0.1 mol/L HMDTC- to the sample at pH = 6.0. The applicability of the proposed new procedure has been verified by the analysis of natural water samples by the method of standard additions and by inductively coupled plasma - atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES), as an independent comparative method. The limit of detection for thallium in this method is 0.024 μg/L.

Keywords

thallium; enrichment; flotation; determination; electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry

Hrčak ID:

131782

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/131782

Publication date:

1.2.2001.

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