Extraction and determination of pyridinium ionic liquid cations in environmental water samples by using strong cation exchange solid phase extraction and ion chromatography

This paper presents a novel analytical method for the determination of pyridinium ionic liquid cations in environmental water samples by ion chromatography coupled with solid phase extraction. The water samples were purified and enriched by a sulphonic acid extraction column, and then the impurities were washed with 10 mL water - 20% (v/v) acetonitrile solution and the analytes eluted with 0.5 mol L-1 phosphoric acid - sodium dihydrogen phosphate buffer solution - 55% methanol. The eluted analytes were determined by ion chromatography with 3.0 mmol L-1 methane sulphonic acid - 8% acetonitrile as the mobile phase and direct conductivity detection. Three pyridinium cations were completely separated in 20 min and the retention mechanism basically conforms to the ion exchange mode. The newly developed method has been successfully applied to the analysis of pyridinium cations in spiked environmental water samples, which provided satisfactory recoveries in the range of 98.8% to 100.0% with the relative standard deviations less than 2.8%. The concentration of 0.004 to 0.01 mg L-1 in water samples can be preconcentrated by this method. The method is accurate, reliable, simple and practical. This research provides a new reference for detecting ionic liquid cations in environmental water samples and studying the environmental risk assessment of ionic liquids.