Selective preconcentration of Lanthanum(III) by Coriolus versicolor immobilised on Amberlite XAD-4 and its determination by ICP-OES

Coriolus versicolor, a wood fungus, was immobilised on Amberlite XAD-4 and used as solid-phase biosorbent for preconcentrations of rare earth elements. La(III), Th(IV), U(IV) and Ce(III) were subjected to solid-phase extraction procedure. We observed that La(III) was selectively preconcentrated, while other ions remained in solution at pH 6.0. 5.0 mL of 1.0 mol L^?1 HCl was used to elaute La(III) from column. 250 mg of C. versicolor loaded on 1000 mg of XAD-4 was optimised as solid-phase matrix. Concentrations of ions in solutions were determined by inductively coupled plasma– optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). The calibration plot after preconcentration was linear in the range from 1.0 to 50.0 ng mL^?1 for La(III). Limit of detection was found as 0.27 ng mL^?1 for La(III) by SPE method. Relative standard deviation was found lower than 6.7% for 1.0 ng mL^?1 of La(III) solution (n = 10). The sensitivity of ICP-OES was improved by a factor of 46.8. The applicability of the method was validated through the analysis of certified reference samples of tea (NCS ZC-73014) and spinach (NCS ZC-73013).