ABSTRACT
A separation-preconcentration method based on supramolecular solvent ultrasonic-assisted liquid-phase microextraction (Ss-USA-LPME) for spectrophotometric determination of mercury as 1-(2-pyridylazo)-2-naphthol (PAN) chelates has been established. Red coloured Hg(II)-PAN hydrophobic complex was extracted into the supramolecular phase (1-decanol/THF) at pH 9.5. The extract was separated from aqueous phase by centrifugation, diluted with ethanol and determined by UV–Vis spectrophotometer at λmax = 560 nm. The influences of important analytical parameters such as pH, amount of PAN, 1-decanol and THF, sample volume and matrix effects for the quantitative recoveries were examined and optimised. Under the optimised experimental conditions, the amount of ligand, 1-decanol and THF were 1.0 × 10–4 M, 200 µL and 300 µL, respectively. The optimum time of ultrasonic bath and centrifugation were found as 2 min and 5 min. A linear calibration graph was obtained linearly in the concentration ranges of 8.3–1000 µg L−1. The preconcentration factor was obtained as 20. The limit of detection (LOD) was 2.6 µg L−1 with the relative standard deviation (RSD) of 2.4% for mercury (C = 100 µg L−1, n = 7). The validity of the developed Ss-USA-LPME technique was checked with a certified reference material of NIST 1641d. The presented method has been successfully applied to the determination of mercury in water samples.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.