In-vial membrane assisted liquid-liquid microextraction
Membranes
can be used for different purposes in Analytical Chemistry. In the extraction
context, they permit the development of several liquid-liquid extraction
techniques such as dialysis, osmosis, among others. Also, they can provide an
additional enhancement of the selectivity by the direct selection of the pore
size. They are also commercialized in different formats (planar, tubular) and
polarities in such a way that they can be applied to almost any analyte-sample
binomial.
In liquid
phase microextraction, membranes have been used under the 2 phases and 3 phases
formats depending on the number, nature and role played by the different liquid
phases involved. In order to favor the kinetic of the whole process the
continuous agitation of the system is recommended to accelerate the diffusive
transport of the target compounds in both the donor and acceptor phases
reducing the thickness of the diffusion layer near the membrane.
Prof. Dr March
and Prof. Dr. Cerdá have recently proposed an innovative approach that they called
“in vial membrane assisted liquid-liquid microextraction”. The basic
configuration consists of a 200 mL microvial sealed with a piece of a PTFE membrane of
given dimensions. Before sealing, it was filled with the organic acceptor
phase. The microvial was then placed inside a 50 mL glass tube which contains
the sample. The system is screwed with a stopped maintained under continuous agitation
until extraction is completed. The unit was evaluated using the determination
of esters of phthalic acid in alcoholic beverages as model analytical problem.
The main advantages of the proposed method are that the samples can be
automatically processed and the chromatographic analysis only requires the
replacement of the membrane of the microvial by a conventional septum. As the
unit is fully compatible with the commercial autosampler, the chromatographic
analysis is also automated.
We hope this
excerpt will encourage our readers to go through the whole article to find out
more specific information about this novel microextraction approach coming from
the Balearic Islands. Enjoy it!!
Reference:
An
innovative arrangement for in-vial membrane-assisted liquid-liquid
microextraction: application to the determination of esters of phthalic acid in
alcoholic beverages by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Link to the article
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