Chitosan tailor-made membranes as biopolymeric support for electromembrane extraction

A chitosan membrane composed by 60% (w/w) chitosan and 40% (w/w) Aliquat (R) 336 has been proposed as a new biopolymeric support for electromembrane extraction. The new support has been characterized by Scanning Electron Microscopy, resulting a 30-35 mu m thickness. Amoxicillin, nicotinic acid, hippuric acid, salicylic acid, anthranilic acid, ketoprofen, naproxen and ibuprofen have been successfully extracted using the proposed support. Better enrichment factors were obtained for the acidic polar analytes than for the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory compounds (ranging from 118 for hippuric acid and 20 for ibuprofen). Electromembrane extraction was developed applying a DC voltage of 100 V, 1-octanol as supported liquid membrane and 20 min of extraction. The target analytes have also been satisfactorily extracted from human urine samples, providing high extraction efficiencies. The chitosan membrane is presented as a promising alternative for supporting liquid membrane compared to commonly used materials for this purpose.