Ringer tablet-based ionic liquid phase microextraction: Application in extraction and preconcentration of neonicotinoid insecticides from fruit juice and vegetable samples

• For the first time, a new liquid phase microextraction has been developed.
• Ringer tablet was used as a disperser.
• The method is applied for the analysis of neonicotinoids in fruit juices.
• EFs and ERs between 655% and 843% and 66% and 84% are obtained, respectively.

An efficient, reliable, sensitive, rapid, and green analytical method for the extraction and determination of neonicotinoid insecticides in aqueous samples has been developed using ionic liquid phase microextraction coupled with high performance liquid chromatography–diode array detector. In this method, a few microliters of 1–hexyl–3–methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate (as an extractant) is added onto a ringer tablet and it is transferred into a conical test tube containing aqueous phase of the analytes. By manually shaking, the ringer tablet is dissolved and the extractant is released into the aqueous phase as very tiny droplets to provide a cloudy solution. After centrifuging the extracted analytes into ionic liquid are collected at the bottom of a conical test tube. Under the optimum extraction conditions, the method showed low limits of detection and quantification between 0.12 and 0.33 and 0.41 and 1.11 ng mL–1, respectively. Extraction recoveries and enrichment factors were from 66% to 84% and 655% to 843%, respectively. Finally different aqueous samples were successfully analyzed using the proposed method.

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