A simple and rapid spectrophotometric determination of thallium(III) with trifluoperazine hydrochloride.

A simple, sensitive and rapid spectrophotometric method was developed for the determination of thallium(III) using trifluoperazine hydrochloride (TFPH). The method is based on the oxidation of TFPH by thallium(III) in a phosphoric acid medium to form a red-colored radical cation with an absorption maximum at 505 nm. Beer's law is valid over the concentration range of 0.5 - 6.5 microg ml(-1) of thallium(III). The molar absorptivity and Sandell's sensitivity of the color system are 2.14 x 10(4) l mol(-1) cm(-1) and 0.0095 microg cm(-2), respectively. The optimum reaction conditions and other analytical parameters were evaluated. The tolerance limit of the method towards various ions usually associated with thallium has been studied. The proposed method has been successfully applied to the analysis of thallium in alloys, minerals, standard reference material, water, and urine samples.