Dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction combined with high performance liquid chromatography-fluorescence detection for the determination of carbendazim and thiabendazole in environmental samples

A rapid and sensitive method for the determination of carbendazim (methyl benzimidazole-2-ylcarbamate, MBC) and thiabendazole (TBZ) in water and soil samples was developed by using dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (DLLME) coupled with high performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection. The water samples were directly used for the DLLME extraction. For soil samples, the target analytes were first extracted by 0.1 mol L⁻¹ HCl. Then, the pH of the extract was adjusted to 7.0 with 2 mol L⁻¹ NaOH before the DLLME extraction. In the DLLME extraction method, chloroform (CHCl₃) was used as extraction solvent and tetrahydrofuran (THF) as dispersive solvent. Under the optimum conditions, the enrichment factors for MBC and TBZ were ranged between 149 and 210, and the extraction recoveries were between 50.8 and 70.9%, respectively. The linearity of the method was obtained in the range of 5-800 ng mL⁻¹ for water sample analysis, and 10-1000 ng g⁻¹ for soil samples, respectively. The correlation coefficients (r) ranged from 0.9987 to 0.9997. The limits of detection were 0.5-1.0 ng mL⁻¹ for water samples, and 1.0-1.6 ng g⁻¹ for soil samples. The relative standard deviations (RSDs) varied from 3.5 to 6.8% (n = 5). The recoveries of the method for MBC and TBZ from water samples at spiking levels of 5 and 20 ng mL⁻¹ were 84.0-94.0% and 86.0-92.5%, respectively. The recoveries for soil samples at spiking levels of 10 and 100 ng g⁻¹ varied between 82.0 and 93.4%.     

Application of dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction for the analysis of triazophos and carbaryl pesticides in water and fruit juice samples

In this work, a simple, rapid and sensitive sample pretreatment technique, dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (DLLME) coupled with high performance liquid chromatography-fluorescence detection (HPLC-FLD), has been developed to determine carbamate (carbaryl) and organophosphorus (triazophos) pesticide residues in water and fruit juice samples. Parameters, affecting the DLLME performance such as the kind and volume of extraction and dispersive solvents, extraction time and salt concentration, were studied and optimized. Under the optimum extraction conditions (extraction solvent: tetrachloroethane, 15.0 μL; dispersive solvent: acetonitrile, 1.0 mL; no addition of salt and extraction time below 5 s), the performance of the proposed method was evaluated. The enrichment factors for the carbaryl and triazophos were 87.3 and 275.6, respectively. The linearity was obtained in the concentration range of 0.1-1000 ng mL⁻¹ with correlation coefficients from 0.9991 to 0.9999. The limits of detection (LODs), based on signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) of 3, ranged from 12.3 to 16.0 pg mL⁻¹. The relative standard deviations (RSDs, for 10 ng mL⁻¹ of carbaryl and 20 ng mL⁻¹ of triazophos) varied from 1.38% to 2.74% (n = 6). The environmental water (at the fortified level of 1.0 ng mL⁻¹) and fruit juice samples (at the fortified level of 1.0 and 5.0 ng mL⁻¹) were successfully analyzed by the proposed method, and the relative recoveries of them were in the range of 80.4-114.2%, 89.8-117.9% and 86.3-105.3%, respectively.     

One-step in-syringe ionic liquid-based dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction

Dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction (DLLME) has been proved to be a powerful tool for the rapid sample treatment of liquid samples providing at the same time high enrichment factors and extraction recoveries. A new, simple and easy to handle one step in-syringe set-up for DLLME is presented and critically discussed in this paper. The novel approach avoids the centrifugation step, typically off-line and time consuming, opening-up a new horizon on DLLME automation. The suitability of the proposal is evaluated by means of the determination of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs in urine by liquid chromatography/ultraviolet detection. In the presented approach an ionic liquid is used as extractant. The target drugs can be determined in urine within the concentration range 0.02–10 μg mL⁻¹, allowing their determination at therapeutic and toxic levels. Limits of detection were in the range from 8.3 ng mL⁻¹ (indomethacin) to 32 ng mL⁻¹ (ketoprofen). The repeatability of the proposed method expressed as RSD (n = 5) varied between 2.5% (for ketoprofen) and 8.6% (for indomethacin).     

Dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction followed by reversed phase-high performance liquid chromatography for the determination of polybrominated diphenyl ethers at trace levels in landfill leachate and environmental water samples

A simple, rapid and efficient method, dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (DLLME), has been developed for the extraction and preconcentration of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in water samples. The factors influencing microextraction efficiencies, such as the kind and volume of extraction and dispersive solvent, the extraction time and the salt effect, were optimized. Under the optimum conditions (sample volume: 5 mL; extraction solvent: tetrachloroethane, 20.0 μL; dispersive solvent: acetonitrile, 1.00 mL; extraction time: below 5 s and without salt addition), the enrichment factors and extraction recoveries were high and ranged from 268 to 305 and 87.0 to 119.1%, respectively. Linearity was observed in the range 0.05-50 ng mL⁻¹ for BDE-28 and BDE-99, and 0.1-100 ng mL⁻¹ for BDE-47 and BDE-209, respectively. Coefficients of correlation (r²) ranged from 0.9995 to 0.9999. The repeatability study was carried out by extracting the spiked water samples at concentration levels of 50 ng mL⁻¹ for BDE-28 and BDE-99, and 100 ng mL⁻¹ for BDE-47 and BDE-209, respectively. The relative standard deviations (R.S.D.s) varied between 3.8 and 6.3% (n = 5). The limits of detection (LODs), based on signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) of 3, ranged from 12.4 to 55.6 pg mL⁻¹ (the wavelength of detector at 226 nm). The relative recoveries of PBDEs from tap, lake water and landfill leachate samples at spiking levels of 5, 10 and 50 ng mL⁻¹ were in the range of 89.7-107.6%, 114.3-119.1% and 87.0-90.9%, respectively. As a result, this method can be successfully applied for the determination of PBDEs in landfill leachate and environmental water samples.     

Speciation of mercury in water samples by dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction combined with high performance liquid chromatography-inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

The dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (DLLME) combined with high performance liquid chromatography-inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry for the speciation of mercury in water samples was described. Firstly methylmercury (MeHg⁺) and mercury (Hg²⁺) were complexed with sodium diethyldithiocarbamate, and then the complexes were extracted into carbon tetrachloride by using DLLME. Under the optimized conditions, the enrichment factors of 138 and 350 for MeHg⁺ and Hg²⁺ were obtained from only 5.00 mL sample solution. The detection limits of the analytes (as Hg) were 0.0076 ng mL⁻¹ for MeHg⁺ and 0.0014 ng mL⁻¹ for Hg²⁺, respectively. The relative standard deviations for ten replicate measurements of 0.5 ng mL⁻¹ MeHg⁺ and Hg²⁺ were 6.9% and 4.4%, respectively. Standard reference material of seawater (GBW(E)080042) was analyzed to verify the accuracy of the method and the results were in good agreement with the certified values. Finally, the developed method was successfully applied for the speciation of mercury in three environmental water samples.     

Carbon monolith: Preparation,characterization and application as microextraction fiber

A carbon monolith was synthesized via a polymerization–carbonization method, styrene and divinylbenzene being adopted as precursors and dodecanol as a porogen during polymerization. The resultant monolith had bimodal porous substructure, narrowly distributed nano skeleton pores and uniform textural pores or throughpores. The carbon monolith was directly used as an extracting fiber, taking place of the coated silica fibers in commercially available solid-phase microextraction device, for the extraction of phenols followed by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. Under the studied conditions, the calibration curves were linear from 0.5 to 50 ng mL⁻¹ for phenol, o-nitrophenol, 2,4-dichlorophenol and p-chlorophenol. The limits of detection were between 0.04 and 0.43 ng mL⁻¹. The recoveries of the phenols spiked in real water samples at 10 ng mL⁻¹ were between 85% and 98% with the relative standard deviations below 10%. Compared with the commercial coated ones (e.g. PDMS, CW/DVB and DVB/CAR/PDMS), the carbon monolith-based fiber had advantages of faster extraction equilibrium and higher extraction capacity due to the superior pore connectivity and pore openness resulting from its bimodal porous substructure.     

Dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction combined with graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry: ultra trace determination of cadmium in water samples

Dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (DLLME) technique was successfully used as a sample preparation method for graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GF AAS). In this extraction method, 500 μL methanol (disperser solvent) containing 34 μL carbon tetrachloride (extraction solvent) and 0.00010 g ammonium pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate (chelating agent) was rapidly injected by syringe into the water sample containing cadmium ions (interest analyte). Thereby, a cloudy solution formed. The cloudy state resulted from the formation of fine droplets of carbon tetrachloride, which have been dispersed, in bulk aqueous sample. At this stage, cadmium reacts with ammonium pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate, and therefore, hydrophobic complex forms which is extracted into the fine droplets of carbon tetrachloride. After centrifugation (2 min at 5000 rpm), these droplets were sedimented at the bottom of the conical test tube (25 ± 1 μL). Then a 20 μL of sedimented phase containing enriched analyte was determined by GF AAS.Some effective parameters on extraction and complex formation, such as extraction and disperser solvent type and their volume, extraction time, salt effect, pH and concentration of the chelating agent have been optimized. Under the optimum conditions, the enrichment factor 125 was obtained from only 5.00 mL of water sample. The calibration graph was linear in the rage of 2-20 ng L⁻¹ with detection limit of 0.6 ng L⁻¹. The relative standard deviation (R.S.D.s) for ten replicate measurements of 20 ng L⁻¹ of cadmium was 3.5%. The relative recoveries of cadmium in tap, sea and rivers water samples at spiking level of 5 and 10 ng L⁻¹ are 108, 95, 87 and 98%, respectively. The characteristics of the proposed method have been compared with cloud point extraction (CPE), on-line liquid-liquid extraction, single drop microextraction (SDME), on-line solid phase extraction (SPE) and co-precipitation based on bibliographic data. Therefore, DLLME combined with GF AAS is a very simple, rapid and sensitive method, which requires low volume of sample (5.00 mL).     

Electropolymerized multiwalled carbon nanotubes/polypyrrole fiber for solid-phase microextraction and its applications in the determination of pyrethroids

A novel solid-phase microextraction (SPME) fiber coated with multiwalled carbon nanotubes/polypyrrole (MWCNTs/Ppy) was prepared with an electrochemical method and used for the extraction of pyrethroids in natural water samples. The results showed that the MWCNTs/Ppy coated fiber had high organic stability, and remarkable acid and alkali resistance. In addition, the MWCNTs/Ppy coated fiber was more effective and superior to commercial PDMS and PDMS/DVD fibers in extracting pyrethroids in natural water samples. Under optimized conditions, the calibration curves were found to be linear from 0.001 to 10 μg mL⁻¹ for five of the six pyrethroids studied, the exception being fenvalerate (which was from 0.005 to 10 μg mL⁻¹), and detection limits were within the range 0.12-0.43 ng mL⁻¹. The recoveries of the pyrethroids spiked in water samples at 10 ng mL⁻¹ ranged from 83 to 112%.     

Microporous silica with nanolayer structure coated with renewable organic solvent film as a novel extracting phase: A combination of solid- and liquid-phase microextraction

A new method based on combination of solid- and liquid-phase microextraction was developed. For the first time, porous flower-like silica microstructures with nanometric layers were created on the surface of the stainless steel wire by a new facile hydrothermal process. The fiber, coated with a suitable organic solvent, was applied for microextraction of some organophosphorus pesticides from aqueous samples followed by gas chromatography-nitrogen phosphorous detection. Method detection limits were between 0.6 and 3 ng L⁻¹. Relative standard deviations for intra- and inter-day precision were 4.4–7.3% and 5.1–7.8%, respectively. Fiber-to-fiber reproducibility for five prepared fibers was 6.3–8.4%. Tap, river and waste water samples were analyzed for evaluation of the method in real sample analysis. Relative recoveries for spiked tap, river and waste water samples were in the range of 94–101%, 89–97% and 82–103%, respectively. In addition, the method was compared with two commercial solid-phase microextraction (SPME) fibers, single drop microextraction (SDME) and liquid-phase microextraction (LPME). The present method showed higher extraction efficiency as compared with SDME, LPME and commercial SPME fibers.     

Ligandless-solidified floating organic drop microextraction method for the preconcentration of trace amount of cadmium in water samples

In this article, a new ligandless solidified floating organic drop microextraction (LL-SFODME) method has been developed for preconcentration of trace amount of cadmium as a prior step to its determination by flow injection-flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FI-FAAS). The methodology is based on the SFODME of cadmium with 1-dodecanol in the absence of chelating agent. Several factors affecting the microextraction efficiency, such as, pH, sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate (SDBS) concentration, extraction time, stirring rate and temperature were investigated and optimized. Under optimized experimental conditions an enhancement factor of 205 was obtained for 100 mL of sample solution. The calibration graph was linear in the range of 1.0-25.0 ng mL⁻¹, the limit of detection (3s) was 0.21 ng mL⁻¹ and the limit of quantification (10s) was 0.62 ng mL⁻¹. The relative standard deviation (RSD) for 10 replicate measurements of 10 ng mL⁻¹ cadmium was 4.7%. The developed method was successfully applied to the extraction and determination of cadmium in standard and several water samples and satisfactory results were obtained.     

Low-density extraction solvent-based solvent terminated dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction combined with gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry for the determination of carbamate pesticides in water samples

A simple and fast method of low-density extraction solvent-based solvent terminated dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction (ST-DLLME) was developed for the highly sensitive determination of carbamate pesticides in the water samples by gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MSMS). After dispersing, the obtained emulsion cleared into two phases quickly when an aliquot of acetonitrile was introduced as a chemical demulsifier into the aqueous bulk. Therefore, the developed procedure does not need centrifugation to achieve phase separation. It was convenient for the usage of low-density extraction solvents in DLLME. Under the optimized conditions, the limits of detection for all target carbamate pesticides were in range of 0.001–0.50 ng mL⁻¹ and the precisions were in the range of 2.3–6.8% (RSDs, 2 ng mL⁻¹, n = 5). The proposed method has been successfully applied to the analysis of real water samples and good spiked recoveries over the range of 94.5–104% were obtained.     

Air-assisted liquid–liquid microextraction method as a novel microextraction technique; Application in extraction and preconcentration of phthalate esters in aqueous sample followed by gas chromatography–flame ionization detection

A novel microextraction technique, air-assisted liquid–liquid microextraction (AALLME), which is a new version of dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction (DLLME) method has been developed for extraction and preconcentration of phthalate esters, dimethyl phthalate (DMP), diethyl phthalate (DEP), di-iso-butyl phthalate (DIBP), di-n-butyl phthalate (DNBP), and di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP), from aqueous samples prior to gas chromatography–flame ionization detection (GC–FID) analysis. In this method, much less volume of an organic solvent is used as extraction solvent in the absence of a disperser solvent. Fine organic droplets were formed by sucking and injecting of the mixture of aqueous sample solution and extraction solvent with a syringe for several times in a conical test tube. After extraction, phase separation was performed by centrifugation and the enriched analytes in the sedimented phase were determined by GC–FID. Under the optimum extraction conditions, the method showed low limits of detection and quantification between 0.12–1.15 and 0.85–4 ng mL⁻¹, respectively. Enrichment factors (EFs) and extraction recoveries (ERs) were in the ranges of 889–1022 and 89–102%, respectively. The relative standard deviations (RSDs) for the extraction of 100 ng mL⁻¹ and 500 ng mL⁻¹ of each phthalate ester were less than 4% for intra-day (n = 6) and inter-days (n = 4) precision. Finally some aqueous samples were successfully analyzed using the proposed method and three analytes, DIBP, DNBP and DEHP, were determined in them at ng mL⁻¹ level.     

Determination of water pollutants by direct-immersion solid-phase microextraction using polymeric ionic liquid coatings

The determination of a group of eighteen pollutants in waters, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and substituted phenols, is conducted in direct-immersion solid-phase microextraction (SPME) using the polymeric ionic liquid (PIL) poly(1-vinyl-3-hexadecylimidazolium) bis[(trifluoromethyl)sulfonyl]imide as a novel coating material. The performance of the PIL fiber coating in the developed IL-SPME-gas chromatography (GC)–mass spectrometry (MS) method is characterized by average relative recoveries of 92.5% for deionized waters and 90.8% for well waters, average precision values (as relative standard deviations, RSD%) of 11% for deionized waters and 12% for well waters, using a spiked level of 5 ng mL⁻¹. The detection limits oscillate from 0.005 ng mL⁻¹ for fluoranthene to 4.4 ng mL⁻¹ for 4-chloro-3-methylphenol, when using an extraction time of 60 min with 20 mL of aqueous sample. The extraction capabilities of the PIL fiber have been compared with the commercial SPME coatings: polydimethylsyloxane (PDMS) 30 μm, PDMS 100 μm and polyacrylate (PA) 85 μm. The PIL fiber is superior to the PDMS 30 μm for all analytes studied. A qualitative study was also carried out to compare among the nature of the coating materials by normalizing the coating thickness. The PIL material was shown to be more efficient than the PDMS material for all analytes studied. The PIL coating was also adequate for nonpolar analytes whereas the PA material was more sensitive for polar compounds.     

Temperature-controlled ionic liquid-liquid-phase microextraction for the pre-concentration of lead from environmental samples prior to flame atomic absorption spectrometry

Hydrophobic ionic liquid could be dispersed into infinite droplets under driving of high temperature, and then they can aggregate as big droplets at low temperature. Based on this phenomenon a new liquid-phase microextraction for the pre-concentration of lead was developed. In this experiment, lead was transferred into its complex using dithizone as chelating agent, and then entered into the infinite ionic liquid drops at high temperature. After cooled with ice-water bath and centrifuged, lead complex was enriched in the ionic liquid droplets. Important parameters affected the extraction efficiency had been investigated including the pH of working solution, amount of chelating agent, volume of ionic liquid, extraction time, centrifugation time, and temperature, etc. The results showed that the usually coexisting ions containing in water samples had no obvious negative effect on the recovery of lead. The experimental results indicated that the proposed method had a good linearity (R = 0.9951) from 10 ng mL⁻¹ to 200 ng mL⁻¹. The precision was 4.4% (RSD, n = 6) and the detection limit was 9.5 ng mL⁻¹. This novel method was validated by determination of lead in four real environmental samples for the applicability and the results showed that the proposed method was excellent for the future use and the recoveries were in the range of 94.8-104.1%.     

Ligandless-dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction of trace amount of copper ions

In the present work, a new ligandless-dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (LL-DLLME) method has been developed for preconcentration trace amounts of copper as a prior step to its determination by flame atomic absorption spectrometry. In the proposed approach 1,2-dicholorobenzene and ethanol were used as extraction and dispersive solvents, respectively. Some factors influencing on the extraction efficiency of copper and its subsequent determination were studied and optimized, such as the extraction and dispersive solvent type and volume, pH of sample solution, extraction time and salting out effect. Under the optimal conditions, the calibration curve was linear in the range of 1.0 ng mL⁻¹-0.6 μg mL⁻¹ of copper with R² = 0.9985. Detection limit was 0.5 ng mL⁻¹ in original solution (3S_b/m) and the relative standard deviation for seven replicate determination of 0.2 μg mL⁻¹ copper was ±1.4%. The proposed method has been applied for determination of copper in standard and water samples with satisfactory results.     

Application of dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction and spectrophotometric detection to the rapid determination of rhodamine 6G in industrial effluents

A rapid and effective preconcentration method for extraction of rhodamine 6G was developed by using a dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (DLLME) prior to UV-vis spectrophotometry. In this extraction method, a suitable mixture of acetone (disperser solvent) and chloroform (extractant solvent) was injected rapidly into a conical test tube containing aqueous solution of rhodamine 6G. Therefore, a cloudy solution was formed. After centrifugation of the cloudy solution, sedimented phase was evaporated, reconstituted with methanol and measured by UV-vis spectrophotometry. Different operating variables such as type and volume of extractant solvent, type and volume of disperser solvent, pH of the sample solution, salt concentration and extraction time were investigated. The optimized conditions (extractant solvent: 300 μL of chloroform, disperser solvent: 3 mL of acetone, pH: 8 and without salt addition) resulted in a linear calibration graph in the range of 5-900 ng mL⁻¹ of rhodamine 6G in initial solution with R² = 0.9988 (n = 5). The Limits of detection and quantification were 2.39 and 7.97 ng mL⁻¹, respectively. The relative standard deviation for 50 and 250 ng mL⁻¹ of rhodamine 6G in water were 2.88% and 1.47% (n = 5), respectively. Finally, the DLLME method was applied for determination of rhodamine 6G in different industrial waste waters.     

Ultrasound-assisted surfactant-enhanced emulsification microextraction for the determination of carbamate pesticides in water samples by high performance liquid chromatography

A novel ultrasound-assisted surfactant-enhanced emulsification microextraction (UASEME) coupled with high performance liquid chromatography-diode array detection has been developed for the extraction and determination of six carbamate pesticides (metolcarb, carbofuran, carbaryl, pirimicarb, isoprocarb and diethofencarb) in water samples. In the UASEME technique, Tween 20 was used as emulsifier, and chlorobenzene and chloroform were used as dual extraction solvent without using any organic dispersive solvent that is normally required in the previously described common dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction method. Parameters that affect the extraction efficiency, such as the kind and volume of the extraction solvent, the type and concentration of the surfactant, ultrasound emulsification time and salt addition, were investigated and optimized for the method. Under the optimum conditions, the enrichment factors were in the range between 170 and 246. The limits of detection of the method were 0.1–0.3 ng mL⁻¹ and the limits of quantification were between 0.3 and 0.9 ng mL⁻¹, depending on the compounds. The linearity of the method was obtained in the range of 0.3–200 ng mL⁻¹ for metolcarb, carbaryl, pirimicarb, and diethofencarb, 0.6–200 ng mL⁻¹ for carbofuran, and 0.9–200 ng mL⁻¹ for isoprocarb, with the correlation coefficients (r) ranging from 0.9982 to 0.9998. The relative standard deviations varied from 3.2 to 4.8% (n = 5). The recoveries of the method for the six carbamates from water samples at spiking levels of 1.0, 10.0, 50.0 and 100.0 ng mL⁻¹ were ranged from 81.0 to 97.5%. The proposed UASEME technique has demonstrated to be simple, practical and environmentally friendly for the determination of carbamates residues in river, reservoir and well water samples.     

Extensible automated dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction

In this study, a convenient and extensible automated ionic liquid-based in situ dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction (automated IL-based in situ DLLME) was developed. 1-Octyl-3-methylimidazolium bis[(trifluoromethane)sulfonyl]imide ([C₈MIM]NTf₂) is formed through the reaction between [C₈MIM]Cl and lithium bis[(trifluoromethane)sulfonyl]imide (LiNTf₂) to extract the analytes. Using a fully automatic SPE workstation, special SPE columns packed with nonwoven polypropylene (NWPP) fiber, and a modified operation program, the procedures of the IL-based in situ DLLME, including the collection of a water sample, injection of an ion exchange solvent, phase separation of the emulsified solution, elution of the retained extraction phase, and collection of the eluent into vials, can be performed automatically. The developed approach, coupled with high-performance liquid chromatography–diode array detection (HPLC–DAD), was successfully applied to the detection and concentration determination of benzoylurea (BU) insecticides in water samples. Parameters affecting the extraction performance were investigated and optimized. Under the optimized conditions, the proposed method achieved extraction recoveries of 80% to 89% for water samples. The limits of detection (LODs) of the method were in the range of 0.16–0.45 ng mL⁻¹. The intra-column and inter-column relative standard deviations (RSDs) were <8.6%. Good linearity (r > 0.9986) was obtained over the calibration range from 2 to 500 ng mL⁻¹. The proposed method opens a new avenue for automated DLLME that not only greatly expands the range of viable extractants, especially functional ILs but also enhances its application for various detection methods. Furthermore, multiple samples can be processed simultaneously, which accelerates the sample preparation and allows the examination of a large number of samples.     

Ligandless dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction for the separation of trace amounts of silver ions in water samples and flame atomic absorption spectrometry determination

In this article, a new ligandless dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction method has been developed for preconcentration of trace quantities of silver as a prior step to its determination by flame atomic absorption spectrometry. In the proposed approach, carbon tetrachloride and ethanol were used as extraction and dispersive solvents. Several factors that may be affected on the extraction process, like, extraction solvent, disperser solvent, the volume of extraction and disperser solvent, pH of the aqueous solution and extraction time were optimized. Under the optimal conditions, the calibration curve was linear in the range of 5.0 ng mL⁻¹ to 2.0 μg mL⁻¹ of silver with R² = 0.9995 (n = 9) and detection limit based on three times the standard deviation of the blank (3S_b) was 1.2 ng mL⁻¹ in original solution. The relative standard deviation for eight replicate determination of 0.5 μg mL⁻¹ silver was ±1.5%. The high efficiency of dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction to carry out the determination of silver in complex matrices was demonstrated. The proposed method has been applied for determination of trace amount of silver in standard and water samples with satisfactory results.     

Dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction followed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry for the determination of nitro musks in surface water and wastewater samples

A new, simple, fast and high sensitive analytical method based on dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (DLLME) followed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) for the simultaneous determination of nitro musks in surface water and wastewater samples is presented. Different parameters, such as the nature and volume of both the extraction and disperser solvents and the ionic strength and pH of the aqueous donor phase, were optimized. Under the selected conditions (injection of a mixture of 1 mL of acetone as disperser solvent and 50 μL of chloroform as extraction solvent, no salt addition and no pH adjustment) the figures of merit of the proposed DLLME-GC-MS method were evaluated. High enrichment factors, ranging between 230 and 314 depending on the target analyte, were achieved, which redound to limits of detection in the ng L⁻¹ range (i.e., 4-33 ng L⁻¹). The relative standard deviation (RSD) was below 5% for all the target analytes. Finally, the recoveries obtained for different water samples of diverse origin (sea, river, irrigation channel and water treatment plant) ranged between 87 and 116%, thus showing no matrix effects.