Electromembrane extraction and spectrophotometric determination of As(V) in water samples

• Electromembrane extraction (EME) was combined with a spectrophotometric method.
• This is the first report on electromembrane extraction for determination of arsenic.
• Selectivity of the spectrophotometric method was improved using EME.
• Detection limit of the proposed method is better than that of traditional method.
• The proposed method was applied for the determination of As(V) in real water samples.

In this study, for the first time electromembrane extraction (EME) was used as a highly efficient sample pre-treatment method for the UV–VIS spectrophotometric determination of As(V) in water samples. The influences of experimental parameters during EME were investigated and optimized using one-variable-at-a-time methodology as follows: organic solvent: 1-octanol + 2.5% (V/V) di-(2-ethylhexyl) phosphate, applied voltage: 70 V, extraction time: 15 min, pH of acceptor: 13, stirring rate: 750 rpm. The method allowed the determination of As(V) in the range of 5–300 ng mL−1. The relative standard deviation was found to be within the range of 3.4–7.6%. The limit of detection, corresponding to a signal to noise ratio of three, was 1.5 ng mL−1. The proposed method was finally applied to the determination of As(V) in water samples and relative recoveries ranging from 95 to 102% were obtained.