Analytical application of surface-affinity polymerized vesicular membranes to trace metal analysis by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry

The affinity of anionic polymerized vesicular membranes for metal cations in aqueous solutions is explored in terms of metal ion extraction and preconcentration. The method is based on the coordination of metal ions on the surface of charged polymerized vesicles via intra-vesicular complexes. These are causing changes in the selectivity, reactivity and inter-vesicular bridges which facilitate the aggregation of polymerized vesicles promoting phase separation. An analytical demonstration is shown by the optimization of the experimental conditions that enable the determination of antimony (III) in natural waters. The analytical features of the method including detection limits, precision and analytical recoveries from spiked natural water samples suggest that polymerized vesicular membranes can be a promising alternative to surfactant-mediated extractions of metal ions from aqueous matrices.