Nanoparticles decorated with a Schiff's base for the microextraction of Cd, Pb, Ni, and Co in environmental samples

In this paper, we report a new liquid-liquid microextraction procedure called "nanoparticles decorated with a Schiff's base for the microextraction of Cd, Pb, Ni, and Co in environmental samples". The developed procedure was utilized for the extraction of Cd, Pb, Ni, and Co in environmental samples. The Schiff's base was formed by reacting salicylaldehyde with 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane-functionalized iron oxide nanoparticles. Analyte extraction was conducted in a capillary column system loaded with modified nanoparticles and triton X-114 as dispersion medium. 1-Butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate was employed as an extraction solvent. Acidified methanol in ultrasonic bath was used as desorption solvent, and elemental determination was carried out with flame atomic absorption spectrometer. Characterization of modified nanoparticles was performed with FTIR spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy. Solution pH, nanoparticles amount, dispersant concentration, ionic liquid, and temperature were optimized for the extraction. Detection limits obtained for Cd, Pb, Ni, and Co were 0.183, 0.201, 0.241, and 0.192 μg L(-1), respectively, and enhancement factors were 79.1, 86.4, 95.7, and 82.0, respectively. The reproducibility of the developed procedure was in the range of 3.98-5.10%. Validation was checked by applying the developed procedure on certified reference water samples. The microextraction based on nanoparticles decorated with Schiff's base was successfully applied for the extraction of Cd, Pb, Ni, and Co in real environmental water samples.