Extraction and preconcentration of Bisphenol A and 4-Nonylphenol in aqueous solutions using microfunnel supported liquid-phase microextraction prior to high performance liquid chromatography

Abstract

In this study, liquid-phase microextraction using low-density extraction solvents with microfunnel was applied for the extraction and preconcentration of Bisphenol A and 4-Nonylphenol in aqueous samples. The goal of the present method is to develop a special device that allows organic solvent remain on the surface of aqueous phase as a thin layer during the extraction time. At the end of extraction period, organic phase containing the extracted analytes was collected easily and analyzed by HPLC–FLD. Toluene used as extraction solvent and some of experimental parameters were optimized by L16 Taguchi experimental design. According to the results, the volume of extraction solvent as well as ionic strength showed significant effect on the extraction recovery. Under the optimum conditions (sample volume: 320 mL; pH 8.0; ionic strength: 10% (w/v) NaCl, extraction time: 90 min and extractant: 600 μL toluene), limit of detection, limit of quantification and dynamic linear range of the proposed method for Bisphenol A were calculated as 0.05, 0.2 and 0.2–62.5 μg L−1, and for Nonylphenol were obtained as 3.1, 6.2 and 6.2–125 μg L−1, respectively.