Silver nanoparticles as a new solid-phase adsorbent and its application to preconcentration and determination of lead from biological samples.

A new, simple, and fast method for preconcentration and determination of trace amount of lead from biological samples was developed by modified silver nanoparticle-based solid-phase extraction technique and graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry. In this study, morin was used as a complexing agent. Some factors influencing the recovery of lead including pH, sample flow rate, type, flow rate, and least amount of the eluent for elution of the lead from silver nanoparticles were studied and optimized. Under the optimum conditions, the detection limit of this method was 68 ng L(-1), and the relative standard deviation was 4.1% (n = 10, c = 20 μg L(-1)). The developed procedure was validated by the analysis of certified reference material and applied to the recovery and determination of lead in biological samples.