Cyclohexylamine as extraction solvent and chelating agent in extraction and preconcentration of some heavy metals in aqueous samples based on heat-induced homogeneous liquid-liquid extraction.

A new sample preparation method has been developed for extraction and preconcentration of some heavy metal cations in aqueous samples using cyclohexylamine-based homogeneous liquid-liquid microextraction. In the proposed method, cyclohexylamine was used as both the complexing agent and the extraction solvent. For this purpose, cyclohexylamine at µL level was initially added into an aqueous solution containing Co(II), Ni(II), and Cu(II) ions which was placed in a glass test tube. The mixture was shaken for forming a homogeneous solution. Then sodium chloride was added to the solution. After shaking manually again, the test tube was placed in a water bath thermostated at 70°C. Due to lower solubility of cyclohexylamine at the elevated temperature, a cloudy solution was formed. The fine droplets of cyclohexylamine containing cation-cyclohexylamine complexes were collected on the top of the aqueous phase by centrifuging. The enriched analytes in the upper phase were determined by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry. Several variables possibly affecting the extraction efficiency were investigated and optimized. Under the optimum conditions the calibration curves were linear in the ranges of 80-1000, 40-700, and 80-800ngL-1 for Co2+, Ni2+, and Cu2+, respectively. Repeatability of the proposed method, expressed as relative standard deviation, ranged from 3.3% to 5.2% (n = 6, C = 200ngL-1). Moreover, the obtained detection limits of the selected analytes were in the range of 15.3-37.7ngL-1. The accuracy of the developed procedure was verified by analyzing a certified reference material, namely NRCC-SLRS4 Riverine water. Finally, the proposed method was successfully applied for the simultaneous analysis of the selected analytes in environmental water samples.