Determination of trace palladium in complicated matrices by displacement dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction and graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry

We describe a method for displacement dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (DLLME) along with graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry for the determination of Pd(II) in complex environmental samples. In this method, Cu(II) is first complexed with diethyldithiocarbamate (DDTC), and the resultant Cu-DDTC complex added to a sedimented phase and submitted to DLLME. In the second step, the sedimented phase is dispersed into the sample solution containing Pd, and another DLLME procedure is carried out. The Pd ions can displace Cu ions from the pre-extracted Cu-DDTC complex because the stability of the Pd-DDTC complex is higher than that of Cu-DDTC. As a result, Pd is preconcentrated. Potential interferences by transition metal ions of lower complex stability can be largely reduced as they cannot displace Cu from the Cu-DDTC complex. The tolerance limits for such ions are better by 2 to 4 orders of magnitude compared to conventional DLLME. The typical sample volume is 5 mL, and an enhancement factor of 96 and a detection limit (3 s) of 7.6 ng L-1 are achieved.