Determination of As in honey samples by magnetic ionic liquid-based dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction and electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry

A dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (DLLME) method was developed based on the application of a magnetic ionic liquid (MIL) used as extractant phase for trace As determination in honey samples by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry (ETAAS). The procedure was simple, efficient and did not require a centrifugation stage. The As(III) species was preconcentrated by chelation with ammonium diethyldithiophosphate under acidic conditions at 3 mol L-1 HCl, followed by the extraction of the chelated analyte with the MIL trihexyl(tetradecyl)phosphonium tetrachloroferrate (III) ([P-6,P-6,P-6,P-14]FeCl4) and acetonitrile as dispersant. The MIL phase containing the analyte was separated simply by a magnet. The collected aliquot of the MIL phase was injected directly into the graphite furnace of ETAAS for As determination. Under optimal experimental conditions, an extraction efficiency of 99% and a sensitivity enhancement factor of 110 were obtained. The limit of detection was 12 ng L-1 As and the relative standard deviation 3.9% (at 1 mu g L-1 As and n = 10), calculated from the peak height of the absorbance signals. The linear range obtained was 0.02-5.0 mu g L-1. This work reports the first application of the MIL [P-6,P-6,P-6,P-14]FeCl4 along with the DLLME technique for the determination of As in honeys.