Pulsed electromembrane extraction: A new concept of electrically enhanced extraction

In the present work, pulsed electromembrane extraction (PEME) is introduced for the first time as an efficient and inexpensive method for the extraction of ionizable compounds from different matrices. The setup proposed for electromembrane extraction (EME) provides a very stable system and satisfactory repeatability (RSDs < 4.4) in comparison with existing methods. In this paper, PEME is conducted for the extraction of model analytes from biological fluids. The effective parameters such as extraction time, applied voltage and the duration of pulse and outage period are optimized using the experimental design. Preconcentration factors in the range of 100–140 and recoveries in the range of 95–108 were obtained in different biological matrices. The linear dynamic ranges of 5–200 ng mL−1 (with correlation coefficient higher than 0.9955) and limits of detection of 1.0 ng mL−1 were obtained for both of the drugs. The figures of merit of PEME were compared with the results from conventional EME, which proves the advantages of the proposed technique.

► Pulsed electromembrane extraction (PEME) is introduced for the first time.
► Method was applied for the extraction of ionizable compounds from aqueous matrices.
► PEME solves the problems of EME for extraction of analytes from saline samples.
► The effective parameters were optimized using the experimental design.
► Preconcentration factors as large as >100 were obtained for biological samples.