Development of ultrasound-assisted dispersive solid-phase microextraction based on mesoporous carbon coated with silica@iron oxide nanocomposite for preconcentration of Te and Tl in natural water systems

The main objective of this study was to develop an ultrasound-assisted dispersive solid-phase microextraction (UADSPME) method for separation and preconcentration of tellurium (Te) and thallium (Tl) in environmental samples prior to inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry determination. The MPC@SiO2@Fe3O4 nanocomposite was used as a nanoadsorbent in the UADSPME method. The nanocomposite was prepared using a coprecipitation and sol–gel method, and it was characterized using scanning electron microscopy/energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy and X-ray powder diffraction techniques. The Box–Behnken design and response surface methodology were used for the optimization of experimental parameters (such as pH, extraction time and mass of adsorbent) affecting the preconcentration procedure. Under optimized conditions, the limits of detection were 0.05 and 0.02 µg L−1 and the limits of quantification were 0.17 and 0.07 µg L−1 for Te and Tl, respectively. The precision expressed as the relative standard deviation (%RSD) was 2.5% and 2.8% for Te and Tl, respectively. Finally, the developed method was applied for the analysis of Tl and Te in real samples.