In this paper, a novel, simple, selective and effective solid phase extraction method based on ion-imprinted polymer (IIP) technology and flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS) for separation and pre-concentration of trace amounts of titanium (IV) ions was reportd. It was obtained by precipitation polymerisation by using 2-(2,4-dihydroxyphenyl)-3,5,7-trihydroxychromen-4-one titanium (IV) complex abbrivated as Ti(IV)-(morin), as the template molecule. After polymerisation, leaching the polymer in HNO3 (50% (v/v) solution caused formation cavities in the polymer. Characterisation studies of the Ti(IV)-imprinted polymer (Ti-IP) was performed by FT-IR, UV-Vis and scanning electron microscopy- energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) techniques and then, the effective factors on extraction were optimised. A sensitive response to Ti(IV) within a concentration range between 0.01 and 4.0 μg mL−1 was achieved under the optimum conditions. A total of 10.0 ng mL−1 and 80.0 mg g−1 were obtained as limit of detection (LOD, 3Sb/m) and maximum adsorption capacity, respectively. The relative standard deviation (RSD) for eight replicates detections of 0.2 μg mL−1 of Ti(IV) was found to be 2.8%. By this method, pre-concentration factor (PF) of 100 was obtained. Successfully applying this method in the water and standard samples, reasonable results were obtained for the extraction and pre-concentration of the titanium ions.
