Speciation of ultra-trace amounts of inorganic arsenic in water and rice samples by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry after solid-phase extraction with modified Fe3O4 nanoparticles

Abstract

A new magnetic adsorbent, 3-mercaptopropionic acid coated 3-aminopropyl triethoxysilane modified Fe3O4 nanoparticle, was synthesised and used for the extraction and preconcentration of arsenic ions in aqueous solutions followed by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometric determination. The adsorbent was characterised by TEM, SEM, XRD and FT-IR techniques and the method used the unique properties of magnetic nanoparticles, namely, high surface area and superparamagnetism which gave it the advantages of high extraction capacity, fast separation and low adsorbent consumption. Different parameters affecting extraction efficiency of the analyte including pH value, sample volume, adsorbent amount, extraction time and desorption conditions were investigated and optimised. Under the optimum conditions, wide linear range of 30–25,000 ng L−1 and low detection limit of 10 ng L−1 were obtained. The interday and intraday precisions (as RSD%) for five replicates determination of 50 and 25,000 ng L−1 of arsenic ions were in the range of 2.3–3.2%. Furthermore, no significant interference was observed in the presence of coexisting ions and high preconcentration factor of 198 was obtained. The adsorption isotherm followed Langmuir model and its kinetic was second-order. The accuracy of the method was validated by analysing certified reference materials for water and rice with satisfactory recoveries. Finally, the proposed method was successfully applied for the determination of ultra-trace amounts of arsenic in rice and water samples.