A pre-enrichment procedure using diethyldithiocarbamate-modified TiO2 nanoparticles for the analysis of biological and natural water samples by ICP-AES

In this article, a new method that utilizes a diethyldithiocarbamate-modified nanometre TiO2 (TiO2-DDTC) as solid-phase extractant has been developed for simultaneous preconcentration of trace Cu(II), Pb(II), Zn(II), and Cd(II) prior to measurement by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES). The separation/preconcentration conditions of analytes, which include the effects of pH, sample flow rate and volume, elution conditions, and interfering ions on the recovery of the analytes, were investigated. At pH 5, the adsorption capacity of modified nanometre TiO2-DDTC was found to be 6.2, 19, 4.7, and 6.0 mg/g for Cu( II), Pb( II), Zn( II), and Cd( II), respectively. According to the definition of IUPAC, the detection limits (3 sigma) of this method for Cu(II), Pb(II), Zn(II), and Cd(II) were 0.41, 1.7, 0.39, and 0.52 ng/mL, respectively. The proposed method achieved satisfied results when applied to the determinations of trace Cu(II), Pb(II), Zn(II), and Cd(II) in biological and natural water samples.