In-situ formation of a solid adsorbent for the extraction of some metal ions from crude oil before their determination by microflow nebulizer inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry

Abstract

The presence of heavy metals in crude oil can create different problems on the oil processing and devices as well as pollution of the environment. Establishment of sample preparation methods for the extraction of metals from crude oil is the bottleneck of a successful determination method due to high hydrophobicity and complexity of crude oil matrix. In this study, a dispersive solid phase extraction procedure was developed for the simultaneous extraction of sixteen metal ions based on in-situ formation of an adsorbent in the sample solution. For this purpose, a suitable amount of dithiooxamide was dissolved in an organic solvent and was injected into the sample solution. By this action, dithiooxamide was re-precipitated in the sample solution and adsorbed the ions. The solid particles were separated and then the ions were eluted by a few microliters of choline chloride: 5-amino-8-hydroxyquinoline deep eutectic solvent under sonication. The presented method was validated and broad linear ranges (7.56–50000 ng g−1) were obtained for calibration curves with coefficient of determination ≥0.992. Acceptable limits of detection (0.003–2.32 ng g−1) and quantification (0.009–7.56 ng g−1) were achieved. Good precision (relative standard deviation less than or equal to 4.3% for intra and inter-day precisions) and acceptable extraction recoveries (66–91%) were also obtained. Seven crude oil samples were analyzed and ten metal ions were determined successfully. The method was compared with the methods reported in literature and it was found that the data obtained by this method were reliable and accurate.