Direct-immersion single-drop microextraction and in-drop stirring microextraction for the determination of nanomolar concentrations of lead using automated Lab-In-Syringe technique.

Two operational modes for Lab-In-Syringe automation of direct-immersion single-drop microextraction have been developed and critically compared using lead in drinking water as the model analyte. Dithizone was used in the presence of masking additives as a sensitive chromogenic complexing reagent. The analytical procedure was carried out inside the void of an automatic syringe pump. Normal pump orientation was used to study extraction in a floating drop of a toluene-hexanol mixture. Placing the syringe upside-down allowed the use of a denser-than-water drop of chloroform for the extraction. A magnetic stirring bar was placed inside the syringe for homogenous mixing of the aqueous phase and enabled in-drop stirring in the second configuration while resulting in enhanced extraction efficiency. The use of a syringe as the extraction chamber allowed drop confinement and support by gravitational differences in the syringe inlet. Keeping the stirring rates low, problems related to solvent dispersion such as droplet collection were avoided. With a drop volume of 60 µL, limits of detection of 75 nmol L-1 and 23 nmol L-1 were achieved for the floating drop extraction and the in-drop stirring approaches, respectively. Both methods were characterized by repeatability with RSD typically below 5%, quantitative analyte recoveries, and analyte selectivity achieved by interference masking. Operational differences were critically compared. The proposed methods permitted the routine determination of lead in drinking water to be achieved in less than 6 min.

Šrámková IH ，Horstkotte B ，Fikarová K ，Sklenářová H ，Solich P ... -  《-》

Lab-In-Syringe automation of deep eutectic solvent-based direct immersion single drop microextraction coupled online to high-performance liquid chromatography for the determination of fluoroquinolones.

Lab-In-Syringe direct immersion single drop microextraction is proposed as an automated sample pretreatment methodology and coupled online to HPLC with fluorescence detection for the determination of fluoroquinolones in environmental waters. For the first time, a drop of a natural deep eutectic solvent (NADES), synthesized from hexanoic acid and thymol, has been used as an extractant in automated single-drop microextraction. The extraction procedure was carried out within the 5 mL void of an automatic syringe pump. A 9-position head valve served the aspiration of all required solutions, air, waste disposal, and hyphenation with the HPLC instrument. Sample mixing during extraction was done by a magnetic stirring bar placed inside the syringe. Only 60 μL of NADES were required omitting toxic classical solvents and improving the greenness of the proposed methodology. By direct injection, linear working ranges between 0.1 and 5 μg L-1 were achieved for all fluoroquinolones. The limit of quantification values and enrichment factors ranged from 20 ng L-1 to 30 ng L-1 and 35 to 45, respectively. Accuracies obtained from the analysis of spiked surface water and wastewater treatment plant effluent analysis at two concentration levels (0.5 and 4 μg L-1) ranged from 84.6% to 119.7%, with RSD values typically <3%.

Yıldırım S ，Cocovi-Solberg DJ ，Uslu B ，Solich P ，Horstkotte B ... -  《-》

In-syringe magnetic stirring-assisted dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction for automation and downscaling of methylene blue active substances assay.

A simple and rapid method for the determination of the methylene blue active substances assay based on in-syringe automation of magnetic stirring-assisted dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction was developed. The proposed method proved to be valid for the determination of anionic surfactant in waste, pond, well, tap, and drinking water samples. Sample mixing with reagents, extraction and phase separation were performed within the syringe of an automated syringe pump containing a magnetic stirring bar for homogenization and solvent dispersion. The syringe module was used upside-down to enable the use of chloroform as an extraction solvent of higher density than water. The calibration was found to be linear up to 0.3mg/L using only 200 µL of solvent and 4 mL of sample. The limits of detection (3σ) and quantification (10σ) were 7.0 µg/L and 22 µg/L, respectively. The relative standard deviation for 10 replicate determinations of 0.1mg/L SBDS was below 3%. Concentrations of anionic surfactants in natural water samples were in the range of 0.032-0.213 mg/L and no significant differences towards the standard method were found. Standard additions gave analyte recoveries between 95% and 106% proving the general applicability and adequateness of the system to MBSA index determination. Compared to the tedious standard method requiring up to 50 mL of chloroform, the entire procedure took only 345 s using 250-times less solvent.

Suárez R ，Horstkotte B ，Cerdà V 《-》

A novel approach to Lab-In-Syringe Head-Space Single-Drop Microextraction and on-drop sensing of ammonia.

A novel approach to the automation technique Lab-In-Syringe, also known as In-Syringe Analysis, is proposed which utilizes a secondary inlet into the syringe void, used as a size-adaptable reaction chamber, via a channel passing through the syringe piston. This innovative approach allows straightforward automation of head-space single-drop microextraction, involving accurately controlled drop formation and handling, and the possibility of on-drop analyte quantification. The syringe was used in upside-down orientation and in-syringe magnetic stirring was carried out, which allowed homogenous mixing of solutions, promotion of head-space analyte enrichment, and efficient syringe cleaning. The superior performance of the newly developed system was illustrated with the development of a sensitive method for total ammonia determination in surface waters. It is based on head-space extraction of ammonia into a single drop of bromothymol blue indicator created inside the syringe at the orifice of the syringe piston channel and on-drop sensing of the color change via fiber optics. The slope of the linear relationship between absorbance and time was used as the analytical signal. Drop formation and performance of on-drop monitoring was further studied with rhodamine B solution to give a better understanding of the system's performance. A repeatability of 6% RSD at 10 μmol L(-1) NH3, a linear range of up to 25 μmol L(-1) NH3, and a limit of detection of 1.8 μmol L(-1) NH3 were achieved. Study of interferences proved the high robustness of the method towards humic acids, high sample salinity, and the presence of detergents, thus demonstrating the method superiority compared to the state-of-the-art gas-diffusion methods. A mean analyte recovery of 101.8% was found in analyzing spiked environmental water samples.

Šrámková I ，Horstkotte B ，Sklenářová H ，Solich P ，Kolev SD ... -  《-》

In-syringe-stirring: a novel approach for magnetic stirring-assisted dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction.

For the first time, the use of a magnetic stirrer within the syringe of an automated syringe pump and the resulting possible analytical applications are described. A simple instrumentation following roughly the one from sequential injection analyzer systems is used in combination with an adaptor, which is placed onto the barrel of a glass syringe. Swirling around the longitudinal axis of the syringe and holding two strong neodymium magnets, it causes a rotating magnetic field and serves as driver for a magnetic stirring bar placed inside of the syringe. In a first study it was shown that this approach leads to a sealed but also automatically adaptable reaction vessel, the syringe, in which rapid and homogeneous mixing of sample with the required reagents within short time can be carried out. In a second study in-a-syringe magnetic stirring-assisted dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (MSA-DLLME) was demonstrated by the application of the analyzer system to fluorimetric determination of aluminum in seawater samples using lumogallion. A linear working range up to 1.1 μmol L(-1) and a limit of detection of 6.1 nmol L(-1) were found. An average recovery of 106.0% was achieved for coastal seawaters with a reproducibility of 4.4%. The procedure lasted 210 s including syringe cleaning and only 150 μL of hexanol and 4.1 mL of sample were required.

Horstkotte B ，Suárez R ，Solich P ，Cerdà V ... -  《-》