Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Solid phase extraction with titanium dioxide nanofibers combined with dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction for speciation of thallium prior to electrothermal vaporization ICP-MS

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Microchimica Acta Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The authors describe a method for speciation of thallium that is based on solid phase extraction (SPE) combined with dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (DLLME) prior to electrothermal vaporization ICP-MS determination. The method is shown to be applicable to the determination of total, suspended, soluble, organic and inorganic Tl, and of Tl(I) and Tl(III) in tea leaves and tea infusion. The SPE step involves the use of titanium dioxide nanofibers for preconcentration of the Tl analytes and simultaneous removal of the matrix components such as polyphenols, soluble sugars, catechin, caffeine and tea pigments. Following elution of Tl with dilute HNO3, the eluate was further preconcentrated and separation by DLLME. After optimization of the method, it has a detection limits of 0.015 pg mL−1 for Tl(I) and of 0.020 pg mL−1 for Tl(III), with relative standard deviations of 6.5% and 7.3% (at 0.10 ng mL−1; for n = 9), respectively. The technique has an enrichment factor of 450 and is highly selective. It was successfully applied to the speciation and distribution of thallium in tea leaves and tea infusions. A certified reference material of tea leaves was analyzed by this method, and the obtained values were in good agreement with the certified values.

Schematic of a new method for solid phase extraction (SPE) of thallium. Titanium dioxide nanofiber-based extraction was combined with dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (DLLME) for speciation of thallium and its distribution in tea leaves and tea infusion, including total, suspended, soluble, organic and inorganic Tl, and of Tl(I) and Tl(III).

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Beatriz P, María RD, Manuel A, Pilar B (2015) Application of high resolution-continuum source flame atomic absorption spectrometry (HR-CS FAAS): determination of trace elements in tea and tisanes. Food Chem 170:492

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Chung FL, Schwartz J, Herzog CR, Yang YM (2003) Tea and cancer prevention: studies in animals and humans. J Nutr 133:3268

    Google Scholar 

  3. Kazantzis G (2000) Thallium in the environment and health effects. Environ Geochem Health 22:275

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Sasmaz A, Sen O, Kaya G, Yaman M, Sagiroglu A (2007) Distribution of thallium in soil and plants growing in the keban mining district of Turkey and determined by ICP-MS. At Spectrosc 28(5):157

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Lan C, Lin T (2005) Acute toxicity of trivalent thallium compounds to Daphnia magna. Ecotoxic Environ Safety 61(3):432

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Gil RA, Pacheco PH, Smichowski P, Olsina RA, Martinez LD (2009) Speciation analysis of thallium using electrothermal AAS following on-line pre-concentration in a microcolumn filled with multiwalled carbon nanotubes. Microchim Acta 167(3–4):187

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Plotka-Wasylka J, Szczepanska N, Guardia M, Namiesnik J (2016) Modern trends in solid phase extraction: new sorbent media. TrAC Trends Anal Chem 77:23

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Fazelirad H, Taher MA (2014) Preconcentration of ultra-trace amounts of iron and antimony using ion pair solid phase extractionwith modified multi-walled carbon nanotubes. Microchim Acta 181(5–6):655

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Sivrikaya S, Imamoglu M, Kara D (2014) On-line solid phase extraction of nickel, copper, and cadmium using a newly synthesized polyamine silica gel-loaded mini-column for flame atomic absorption spectrometric determination. At Spectrosc 35(4):168

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Xiao D, Lu T, Zeng R, Bi Y (2016) Preparation and highlighted applications of magnetic microparticles and nanoparticles: a review on recent advances. Microchim Acta 183(10):2655

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. He Y, Chen S, Zhou X, Wang X (2012) Preconcentration and determination of trace cu, Pb, and Zn in biological samples by combining carbon nanofibers (CNFs) as a solid phase extraction adsorbent with ICP-MS. At Spectrosc 33(4):117

    Google Scholar 

  12. Chen S, Zhu L, Lu D, Cheng X, Zhou X (2010) Separation and chromium speciation by single-wall carbon nanotubes microcolumn and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Microchim Acta 169(1–2):123

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Chen S, Zhu S, He Y, Lu D (2014) Speciation of chromium and its distribution in tea leaves and tea infusion using titanium dioxide nanotubes packed microcolumn coupled with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Food Chem 150:254

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Roi RF, Elena PV, Pilar BB (2016) Determination of mercury in wastewater using a molecularly imprinted polymer as solid phase extraction sorbent and CV-ICP-OES. At Spectrosc 37(6):238

    Google Scholar 

  15. Farajzadeh MA, Sorouraddin SM, Mohammad RA (2014) Liquid phase microextraction of pesticides: a review on current methods. Microchim Acta 181(9–10):829

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Francisco P, Isela L, Carlos B (2010) Liquid-phase microextraction approaches combined with atomic detection: a critical review. Anal Chim Acta 669(1–2):1

    Google Scholar 

  17. Soylak M, Karaca M (2016) Vortex-assisted dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction of Pb (II) as 2-hydroxypyridine-3-carboxylic acid chelates from food and water samples prior to flame atomic absorption spectrometric determination. At Spectrosc 37(3):108

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Bin H, Man H, Beibei C, Linbo X (2013) Liquid phase microextraction for the analysis of trace elements and their speciation. Spectrochim Acta Part B 86:14

  19. Djavanshir D, Mir AF, Saeed MS, Tahmineh B (2012) Molecularly imprinted-solid phase extraction combined with simultaneous derivatization and dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction for selective extraction and preconcentration of methamphetamine and ecstasy from urine samples followed by gas chromatography. J Chromatogr A 1248:24

  20. Yamini Y, Faraji M, Adeli M (2015) Magnetic silica nanomaterials for solid-phase extraction combined with dispersive liquid-liquidmicroextraction of ultra-trace quantities of plasticizers. Microchim Acta 182(7–8):1491

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Diao C, Li C, Yang X, Sun A, Liu R (2016) Magnetic matrix solid phase dispersion assisted dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction of ultra-trace polychlorinated biphenyls in water prior to GC-ECD determination. Microchim Acta 183(3):1261

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Thabiso L, Mosotho JG (2016) Towards coupling dispersive liquid liquid microextraction with hollow fibre liquid phase microextraction for extraction of organic pollutants of agricultural origin. Anal Chem Res 10:28

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Mohammad TJ, Mohammad S, Mehdi M (2016) Combination of dispersive liquid liquid microextraction and solid phase microextraction: an efficient hyphenated sample preparation method. J Chromatogr A 1466:50

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Inmaculada C, Francisco P, Isela L, Carlos B (2016) Liquid-phase microextraction combined with graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry: a review. Anal Chim Acta 936:12

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Chen S, Cheng X, He Y, Zhu S, Lu B (2013) Determination of the rare earth elements la, Eu, and Yb using solidified floating organic drop microextraction and electrothermal vaporization ICP-MS. Microchim Acta 180(15–16):1479

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Borges DLG, Welz B, Curtius AJ (2007) Determination of as, cd, Pb and Tl in coal by electrothermal vaporization inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry using slurry sampling and external calibration against aqueous standards. Microchim Acta 159(1–2):19

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Chen S, Li J, Lu D, Zhu S (2016) Study on the simultaneous determination of different volatile elements in high purity zirconium dioxide by in situ matrix removal and ETV-ICP-MS. At Spectrosc 37(1):13

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Ying L, Man H, Beibei C, Bin H (2015) Simultaneous speciation of inorganic arsenic, selenium and tellurium in environmental water samples by dispersive liquid liquid microextraction combined with electrothermal vaporization inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Talanta 142:213

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Chen S, Zhu S, Lu D (2015) Solidified floating organic drop microextraction for speciation of selenium and its distribution in selenium-rich tea leaves and tea infusion by electrothermal vapourisation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Food Chem 169:156

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. Yi Y, Wu S, Jiang S, Sahayam A (2013) Cloud point extraction of Cr, cu, cd, and Pb from water samples and determination by electrothermal vaporization inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry with isotope dilution. At Spectrosc 34(2):39

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  31. Vogel AI (2000) A text book of quantitative inorganic analysis, six edn. Longman, London, p 159

    Google Scholar 

  32. Vu D, Li Z, Zhang H, Wang W, Wang Z, Xu X, Dong B, Wang C (2012) Adsorption of cu(II) from aqueous solution by anatase mesoporous TiO2 nanofibers prepared via electrospinning. J colloid Interf sci 367:429

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  33. Beata K, Monika S, Katarzyna P, Marta W (2013) Thallium (III) determination in the Baltic seawater samples by ICP MS after preconcentration on SGX C18 modified with DDTC. Talanta 112:73

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Leticia BE, Rodolfo GW, Roberto AO (2013) Sensitive determination of thallium species in drinking and natural water by ionic liquid-assisted ion-pairing liquid–liquid microextraction and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. J Hazard Mater 244-245:380

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. Meeravali NN, Jiang SJ (2008) Ultra-trace speciation analysis of thallium in environmental water samples by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry after a novel sequential mixed-micelle cloud point extraction. J Anal At Spectrom 23(4):555

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  36. Chu Y, Wang R, Jing S (2012) Speciation analysis of thallium by reversed-phase liquid chromatography inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. J Chin Chem Soc 59(2): 219.

  37. Altundag H, Dundar MS (2009) Speeding up of a thallium speciation using ion exchange column system. Fresenius Environ Bull 18(11):2102

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  38. Biadun E, Sadowska M, Ospina-Alvarez N, Krasnodebska-Ostrega B (2016) Direct speciation analysis of thallium based on solid phase extraction and specific retention of a Tl(III) complex on alumina coated with sodium dodecyl sulfate. Microchim Acta 183(1):177

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful for the financial support of Special Fund for Agroscientific Researchin the Public Interest (Project No. 201503135-22).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Food Science and Engineering, Wuhan Polytechnic University, Wuhan, 430023, People’s Republic of China

    Shizhong Chen, Yan Zhang & Dengbo Lu

  2. College of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Wuhan Polytechnic University, Wuhan, 430023, People’s Republic of China

    Juntao Yan & Jianfen Li

Authors
  1. Shizhong Chen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Juntao Yan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Jianfen Li
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Yan Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Dengbo Lu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Shizhong Chen.

Ethics declarations

The author(s) declare that they have no competing interests.

Electronic supplementary material

ESM 1

(DOC 73 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Chen, S., Yan, J., Li, J. et al. Solid phase extraction with titanium dioxide nanofibers combined with dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction for speciation of thallium prior to electrothermal vaporization ICP-MS. Microchim Acta 184, 2797–2803 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00604-017-2309-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00604-017-2309-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation