pH-mediated dual-cloud point extraction as a preconcentration and clean-up technique for capillary electrophoresis determination of phenol and m-nitrophenol

pH-mediated dual-cloud point extraction (dCPE) technique for capillary electrophoresis (CE) determination of phenol and m-nitrophenol is proposed in this paper. This technique for the preconcentration and clean-up of the two analytes includes two steps through simple pH-mediation. The analytes are transferred into surfactant-rich phase in the first step (under acidic condition) with Triton X-114 as the extractant because the two analytes become hydrophobic in acidic solution. They were back-extracted into alkaline aqueous phase in the second cloud point step. Because the concentration of Triton X-114 in the final aqueous solution after dCPE is only around critical micelle concentration, its adsorption on the inner wall of capillary and its possible influence on electrophoretic separation are eliminated. Baseline separation of phenol and m-nitrophenol is realized in a 60 cm x 75 microm i.d. capillary at 18 kV using 50 mM boric acid solution (pH 9.5). The preconcentration factors are 24.0 for phenol and 22.5 for m-nitrophenol. The detection limits of phenol and m-nitrophenol are 2.0 x 10(-6) mol L(-1) and 2.5 x 10(-6) mol L(-1), respectively. The proposed method was successfully applied to the determination of two analytes in spiked natural water samples.