Ionic liquid and magnetic multiwalled carbon nanotubes for extraction of N-methylcarbamate pesticides from water samples prior their determination by capillary electrophoresis.

A simple and rapid microextraction procedure is reported on the use of ionic liquid (IL) in combination with magnetic multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MMWCNTs). The procedure is based on temperature-controlled IL dispersive liquid phase microextraction (DLPME) and MMWCNTs, for selective preconcentration of N-methylcarbamate pesticides in water samples, followed by their hydrolysis in alkaline buffer, prior to being analyzed by capillary electrophoresis. The extraction procedure uses small volume of organic solvents, and there is no need for centrifugation. In the experimental approach the IL was quickly disrupted by an ultrasonic probe, heated with the temperature controlled at 90 °C and dispersed in water samples in a homogenous form. At this stage, N-methylcarbamate pesticides migrate into the IL. Then the solution was cooled and small amounts of MMWCNTs were dispersed into the sample solutions to adsorb the ionic liquid containing the analytes and phase separation was completed. The ionic liquid allowed the microextraction of the analytes and a small volume of dichloromethane (DCM) was used for elution. MMWCNTs favored the adsorption of the ionic liquid with the analytes and improved the final recovery with respect to the use of simple magnetic nanoparticles as a sorbent material. Under the optimum conditions, limit of quantifications (LOQ) were achieved in the 5.6-9.3 ng mL range, with recoveries between 85.0% and 102.4%.