New Application of Chemically Modified Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes with Thiosemicarbazide as a Sorbent for Separation and Preconcentration of Trace Amounts of Co(II), Cd(II), Cu(II), and Zn(II) in Environmental and Biological Samples Prior to Determination by Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrometry

The present article reports the application of Thiosemicarbazide‐modified multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs‐TSC) as a new, easily prepared selective and stable solid sorbent for the preconcentration of trace Co(II), Cd(II), Cu(II) and Zn(II) ions in aqueous solution prior to the determination by flame atomic absorption spectrometry. The studied metal ions can be adsorbed quantitatively on MMWNTs at pH 5.0 and then eluted completely with HNO₃ (1.5 mol L^?1) prior to their determination by flame atomic absorption spectrometry. The separation/preconcentration conditions of analytes were investigated, including the pH, the sample flow rate and volume, the elution condition and the interfering ions. The maximum adsorption capacity of the adsorbent at optimum conditions were found to be 32.5, 27.3, 44.5 and 34.1 mg g^?1 for Co(II), Cd(II), Cu(II) and Zn(II), and the detection limits of the method were found to be 0.28, 0.13, 0.21 and 0.17 μg L^?1, respectively. The proposed method was successfully applied for extraction and determination of the analytes in well water, sea water, wastewater, soil, and blood samples.