Oxidized multiwalled carbon nanotubes modified with 2-(2-hydroxy-5-nitrophenyl)-4,5-diphenyl imidazole for solid phase extraction and preconcentration of some metal ions

In this work, a new procedure for the enrichment of the trace amount of Cu2+, Ni2+, Co2+, Pb2+, Fe2+, and Zn2+ ions based on the utilization of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) modified with 2-(2-hydroxy-5-nitrophenyl)-4,5-diphenyl imidazole as chelating agent prior to their determination by flame atomic absorption spectrometry has been described. The influence of effective parameters including pH, amount of ligand and MWCNT, composition of eluent, and coexisting ions on recoveries of understudy metal ions was examined. At the optimum pH of 5.0, all metal ions were quantitatively sorbed onto the proposed solid phase and completely desorbed with 8 mL of 5.0 mol L-1 HNO3. The detection limit of Cu2+, Co2+, Ni2+, Pb2+, Fe2+, and Zn2+ ions was 1.7, 2.4, 2.3, 2.9, 2.8, and 1.4 mu g L-1, while the preconcentration factor was 63 for Cu2+ and 94 for the other metal ions and relative standard deviations between 1.8 less than 3.0%. The proposed procedure was applied for the analysis of various samples.