Development of a home-made extraction device for vortex-assisted surfactant-enhanced-emulsification liquid–liquid microextraction with lighter than water organic solvents

We have developed a novel vortex-assisted surfactant-enhanced-emulsification liquid–liquid microextraction using the low density solvent for the determination of eight organophosphorus pesticides (OPPs) in water samples. The key point of this method is the application of a special home-made extraction device. The influence parameters relevant to this method were systemically investigated and the optimum conditions were as follow: 35 μL of toluene was used as extraction solvent and 0.2 mmol L-1 Triton X-100 was chosen as the surfactant to enhance the emulsification. Under the optimum experimental conditions, the limit of detections (LODs) of the method was ranged between 0.01 and 0.05 μg L−1 and the relative standard deviations (RSDs) were 2.9–8.1%. The calibration curve was linear in the range of 0.1–50.0 μg L−1, with the correlation coefficients (r) varying from 0.9949 to 0.9991. Finally, the developed method has been successfully applied to the determination of eight organophosphorus pesticides in river, reservoir and well water samples with recoveries between 82.1% and 98.7%.

► A novel liquid-phase microextraction has been developed.
► Varieties of experiment factors were optimized and selected.
► A special home-made extraction device was used.
► Low-density and relative low toxic solvents could be used as the extraction solvent.
► This method has been successfully applied in the analysis of water samples.