A highly selective and sensitive ultrasonic assisted dispersive liquid phase microextraction based on deep eutectic solvent for determination of cadmium in food and water samples prior to electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry

A simple, fast, green, sensitive and selective ultrasonic assisted deep eutectic solvent liquid-phase microextraction technique was used for preconcentration and extraction of cadmium (Cd) in water and food samples by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry (ETAAS). In this technique, a synthesized reagent (Z)-N-(3,5-diphenyl-1H-pyrrol-2-yl)-3,5-diphenyl-2H-pyrrol-2-imine (Azo) was used as a complexing agent for Cd. The main factors effecting the pre-concentration and extraction of Cd such as effect of pH, type and composition of deep eutectic solvent (DES), volume of DES, volume of complexing agent, volume of tetrahydrofuran (THF) and ultrasonication time have been examined in detail. At optimum conditions the value of pH and molar ratio of DES were found to be 6.0 and 1:4 (ChCl:Ph), respectively. The detection limit (LOD), limit of quantification (LOQ), relative standard deviation (RSD) and preconcentration factor (PF) were observed as 0.023 ng L⁻¹, 0.161 ng L⁻¹, 3.1% and 100, correspondingly. Validation of the developed technique was observed by extraction of Cd in certified reference materials (CRMs) and observed results were successfully compared with certified values. The developed procedure was practiced to various food, beverage and water samples.