Ionic liquid combined with carbon nanotubes: A soft material for the preconcentration of PAHs

► Ionic liquids combined with multiwalled carbon nanotubes form stable soft material. ► Chemical and physical stabilities of soft materials have been demonstrated. ► The soft material exhibits a large capacity to absorb/adsorb analytes. ► Thanks to the stability, it is possible to preconcentrate and elute analytes. ► Similar results have been obtained for two types of carbon nanotubes.