Development of a pH-induced dispersive solid-phase extraction method using folic acid combined with dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction: application in the extraction of Cu(II) and Pb(II) ions from water and fruit juice samples.

In this study, a new pH-induced dispersive solid-phase extraction method using folic acid has been proposed for the extraction of Cu(II) and Pb(II) ions from water and fruit juice samples. For this purpose, at first, a specified amount of folic acid was dissolved in the sample solution containing the studied ions at pH 8.5. Then, by decreasing pH of the solution, solubility of folic acid reduced and its fine particles containing the analytes were produced. They were separated and dissolved in dimethylformamide. For more preconcentration, the developed procedure was combined with a dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction procedure. Finally, the extracted and enriched analytes were determined by flame atomic absorption spectrometry. The effect of important parameters on the extraction efficiency of the method such as pH, folic acid amount, the amount of complexing agent, dimethylformamide volume, ionic strength, and centrifugation conditions were studied. Under optimized conditions, the developed method showed linear ranges of 0.20-40 and 0.25-40 µg L-1 for Pb(II) and Cu(II) ions, respectively. Limits of detection of Pb(II) and Cu(II) were 0.07 and 0.08 µg L-1, respectively. The relative standard deviations (intra- and inter-day precisions) were between 3.8 and 5.4%. Accuracy of the proposed method was studied by determination of the analytes concentrations in a certified reference material; SPS-WW2 Batch 108. Efficiency of the proposed procedure was evaluated by analyzing Pb(II) and Cu(II) ions in various water and fruit juice samples.