Hollow fibre-supported graphene oxide nanosheets modified with a deep eutectic solvent to be used for the solid-phase microextraction of silver ions

A deep eutectic solvent (DES) of choline chloride and thiourea was synthesised, immobilised on the surface of graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets and reinforced inside the pores of the hollow fibre (DES-GO-HF). Then, solid-phase microextraction flame atomic absorption spectrometry was designed for separation, preconcentration and determination of trace amounts of silver. Various parameters affecting the extraction recovery of the analyte, such as pH, sample volume, type of DES, extraction time, length of the hollow fiber, nature, as well as the volume and concentration of the eluent, were investigated and optimised. Under optimum conditions, the method showed good linearity in the concentration range of 1.0-40.0 mu g L-1 with the determination coefficient of (r(2)) 0.9990 for silver. The method was very sensitive and has limits of detection and quantification (defined as 3S(b)/m and 10S(b)/m) of 0.2 and 0.7 mu g L-1, respectively. The method was successfully applied for the determination of Ag(I) in water, wastewater, ore and hair samples. The accuracy of the method was evaluated through the recovery experiments and the analysis of certified reference materials.