Ionic liquid-based ultrasound-assisted dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction followed high-performance liquid chromatography for the determination of ultraviolet filters in environmental water samples

In the present study, a rapid, highly efficient and environmentally friendly sample preparation method named ionic liquid-based ultrasound-assisted dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (IL-USA-DLLME), followed by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) has been developed for the extraction and preconcentration of four benzophenone-type ultraviolet (UV) filters (viz. benzophenone (BP), 2-hydroxy-4-methoxybenzophenone (BP-3), ethylhexyl salicylate (EHS) and homosalate (HMS)) from three different water matrices. The procedure was based on a ternary solvent system containing tiny droplets of ionic liquid (IL) in the sample solution formed by dissolving an appropriate amount of the IL extraction solvent 1-hexyl-3-methylimidazolium tris(pentafluoroethyl)trifluorophosphate ([HMIM][FAP]) in a small amount of water-miscible dispersive solvent (methanol). An ultrasound-assisted process was applied to accelerate the formation of the fine cloudy solution, which markedly increased the extraction efficiency and reduced the equilibrium time. Various parameters that affected the extraction efficiency (such as type and volume of extraction and dispersive solvents, ionic strength, pH and extraction time) were evaluated. Under optimal conditions, the proposed method provided good enrichment factors in the range of 354-464, and good repeatability of the extractions (RSDs below 6.3%, n=5). The limits of detection were in the range of 0.2-5.0 ng mL(-1), depending on the analytes. The linearities were between 1 and 500 ng mL(-1) for BP, 5 and 500 ng mL(-1) for BP-3 and HMS and 10 and 500 ng mL(-1) for EHS. Finally, the proposed method was successfully applied to the determination of UV filters in river, swimming pool and tap water samples and acceptable relative recoveries over the range of 71.0-118.0% were obtained.