Solid phase extraction of heavy metal ions in environmental samples on chemically bonded single-walled carbon nanotubes with 2-((3-silylpropylimino) methyl) phenol

A new, simple method based on the use of chemically 2-((3-silylpropylimino) methyl) phenol (spimp)bonded single-walled carbon nanotubes (spimp-swcnts) as solid-phase extraction (spe) stationaryphase is proposed for simultaneous preconcentration of trace cu2+, zn2+, ni2+ and fe3+ ions prior to themeasurement by flame atomic absorption spectrometry (faas). this new spe method provides severaladvantages, such as high extraction efficiency, high breakthrough volumes, convenient extractionprocedure, and short analysis times. the different experimental parameters for preconcentration of metalions have been investigated on a column packed with spimp-swcnts. the optimum ph value for theseparation of metal ions was 7.0. the metal ions retained on chemically modified swcnts efficiently wereeluted using 6.0 ml of 4.0 mol l-1hno3 solution. the detection limits of the method was found to be 2.10,2.97, 1.55 and 3.03 μg l-1 for cu2+, zn2+, ni2+ and fe3+, respectively. the relative standard deviation (rsd)of the method was lower than 4.0% (n=8). the method has been successfully applied for analysis of themetal contents in different real samples including mineral water, sour cherry juice, pine apple juice andcabbage.