A green solventless temperature-assisted homogeneous liquid–liquid microextraction method based on 8-hydroxyquinoline simultaneously as complexing agent and extractant for preconcentration of cobalt and nickel from water and fruit juice samples

ABSTRACT

A green, simple, rapid and efficient solventless temperature-assisted homogeneous liquid-liquid microextraction based on 8-hydroxyquinoline as complexing agent and extractant, followed by flame atomic absorption spectrometry was developed for the extraction, enrichment, and determination of trace amounts of nickel and cobalt in aqueous samples. For this purpose, first, a specified amount of 8-hydroxyquinoline is added to the analytes solution. Then the temperature of the solution is increased to melt 8-hydroxyquinoline and form a homogeneous solution. Then, it is cooled to room temperature and a cloudy solution is formed due to decreasing 8-hydroxyquinoline solubility. The solution is then centrifuged, and 8-hydroxyquinoline particles containing the produced complexes (8-hydroxyquinoline-cation) are collected at the bottom of the tube. They are removed and dissolved in a suitable solvent and injected to the detection system. The main parameters affecting the extraction efficiency, such as the amount of 8-hydroxyquinoline, solvent nature, pH, extraction temperature and heating time were investigated. Under optimum conditions, linear ranges for Co(II) and Ni(II) were 1–100 and 0.5–75 µg L⁻¹, respectively. Relative standard deviations for intra- and inter-day precisions calculated from six repeated determinations at three different concentrations of Co(II) and Ni(II) were ≤5.2 %. Moreover, the obtained detection limits of the analytes were 0.35 and 0.20 µg L⁻¹ for Co(II) and Ni(II), respectively. The accuracy of the developed procedure was checked by analysing SPS-WW2 Batch 108 water as a certified reference material. Finally, the developed method was successfully applied for the determination of the selected cations in water and fruit juice samples.

KEYWORDS:

• Homogenous liquid-liquid microextraction
• 8-hydroxyquinoline
• flame atomic absorption spectrometry
• cobalt
• nickel

Acknowledgments

The authors thank the Research Council of the University of Tabriz for financial support.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.