Exploring the impact of polyvinylidenefluoride membrane physical properties on the enrichment efficacy of microfluidic electro-membrane extraction of acidic drugs

Membrane technology has revolutionized various fields with its energy efficiency, versatility, user-friendliness, and adaptability. This study introduces a microfluidic chip, comprised of silicone rubber and polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) sheets to explore the impacts of polymeric support morphology on electro-membrane extraction efficiency, representing a pioneering exploration in this field. In this research, three polyvinylidenefluoride (PVDF) membranes with distinct pore sizes were fabricated and their characteristics were assessed through field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), and atomic force microscopy (AFM). This investigation centers on the extraction of three widely prescribed non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs: aspirin (ASA), naproxen (NAP), and ibuprofen (IBU). Quantitative parameters in the extraction process including voltage, donor phase flow rate, and acceptor phase composition were optimized, considering the type of membrane as a qualitative factor. To assess the performance of the fabricated PVDF membranes, a comparative analysis with a commercially available Polypropylene (PP) membrane was conducted. Efficient enrichment factors of 30.86, 23.15, and 21.06 were attained for ASA, NAP, and IBU, respectively, from urine samples under optimal conditions using the optimum PVDF membrane. Significantly, the choice of the ideal membrane amplified the purification levels of ASA, NAP, and IBU by factors of 1.6, 7.5, and 40, respectively.

Introduction of an electrospun nanofibrous membrane incorporated by metal-organic framework-199 (MOF-199) with Lewis acid property for efficient extraction of sulfonamides in on-chip electromembrane extraction

In this study, a new supporting polymeric membrane having Lewis acid nature was introduced for immobilizing organic solvent in on-chip electromembrane extraction (on-chip EME). For this aim, a polymeric nanofibrous membrane incorporated by a copper based metal-organic framework (MOF-199), with coordinatively unsaturated metal sites and Lewis acid property, was prepared by electrospinning a mixture of polycaprolactone (PCL) and MOF-199. Based on the field emission scanning electron microscopy images, the obtained polymeric membrane consisted of intertwined nanofibers having empty space between the fibers which could provide a suitable place for immobilizing the organic solvent. To demonstrate remarkable extractability of the proposed membrane (PCL/MOF-199 nanofibers) via executing Lewis acid-base interactions, three sulfonamide drugs was selected as anionic polar analytes with Lewis base feature. The parameters affecting the extraction efficiency of the method were optimized through the experimental design method using the orthogonal and rotatable central composite design (CCD). Under optimum conditions, the extraction recoveries ranging from 35.5 to 71.2 %, the relative standard deviations (RSD%) less than 6.45 %, and the detection limits in the range of 0.2-0.5 μg L-1 were achieved. The comparison of the extraction efficiency of the on-chip EME method using the electrospun PCL/MOF-199 nanofibers and PCL nanofibers membranes indicated that the proposed membrane was more efficient for extraction of sulfonamides because of the significant Lewis acid-base interactions of sulfonamides with copper uncoordinated open sites in MOF-199. Finally, the performance of the proposed method for extraction and determination of sulfonamides in three real samples was assayed.

Green strategies using solvent-free biodegradable membranes in microfluidic devices. Liquid phase microextraction and electromembrane extraction

In this work, a novel solvent-free microfluidic method based liquid phase microextraction has been proposed for the first time. A comprehensive study of liquid phase microextraction (LPME) and electromembrane extraction (EME) implemented in microfluidic formats has been carried out to investigate the efficiency of biodegradable membranes (such as agarose) without organic solvent to develop fully environmental microfluidic methods. For this study, non-polar and polar basic compounds (five) were selected as model analytes and different agarose membrane compositions were synthesized and tested with and without organic solvent (solvent-free). Under optimal experimental conditions, the extraction efficiencies obtained using solvent-free LPME-chip devices were similar to the ones obtained using solvent-free EME-chip devices at very low voltages (0.25 V), however, LPME microfluidic format was selected due to its simplicity. The proposed green microfluidic device was successfully applied in urine samples with recoveries between 80 and 93% for all analytes and relative standard deviation below 7% for all analytes. Results were compared with experiments previously conducted using conventional (polypropylene) membranes, observing that solvent-free microfluidic systems based on biodegradable solid support materials have proven to be an attractive alternative and offered the same advantages in terms of membrane stability allowing consecutive extractions compared to supported liquid membranes (SLM) microfluidic methods.

An improved microfluidic device to enhance the enrichment factors in liquid phase microextraction: application to the simultaneous extraction of polar and non-polar acids in biological samples

A new microfluidic device to enhance the enrichment factor in miniaturized systems is proposed. The microfluidic system was design for liquid phase microextractions, and it was applied to the simultaneous extraction of acidic compounds of a wide range of polarity (0.5 < log P < 3). The device operated under stagnant acceptor phase conditions and all the operational parameters involved were optimized. Tributyl phosphate was found to be a new highly efficient supported liquid membrane to simultaneously extract analytes of very different polarities. The optimal donor and acceptor phase were pH 2 and pH 13, respectively. The donor flow rate and the extraction time were investigated simultaneously, offering great versatility with high enrichment factors (EFs). Limits of quantitation were within 0.02 and 0.09 µg mL^-1 for all compounds at 10 µL min^-1 as donor flow rate and 20-min extractions, offering EFs between 11 and 18 with only 200-µL sample volume consumption. The method was successfully applied to human urine samples, observing recoveries between 47 and 90% for all compounds. This new proposed microfluidic system increases the wide range of applications, especially when the analytes are present in lower concentrations in the sample.

A new microfluidic-chip device followed by sensitive image analysis of smart phone for simultaneous determination of dyes with different acidic-basic properties

In this study, a new microfluidic-chip coupled with micro solid phase extraction (μ-SPE) and a RGB detection system was designed. The method was used for extraction and simultaneous determination of trace amounts of dyes with different acidic-basic properties. Erythrosine (Ery) and Crystal Violet (CV) were selected as acidic and basic model analytes, respectively. The first step of this method is based on the on-chip electromembrane extraction (CEME) of analytes from aqueous solution. The utilized microfluidic system is a single compartment that composed of three polymethyl metacrylate plates (with sandwiched structures) patterned with palm shaped helix channels. The device consisted one pair of platinum electrodes that were embedded in the acceptor phase channels in each side. The middle part was cut and used as the path of the sample. The extracted analytes by CEME were passed through the micro-packed column containing strong cation and anion exchanger sorbents respectively. Two adsorbents were separated by a polypropylene frit and sealed on each side by two polypropylene frites. Following dye adsorption on the sorbents, the colors that emerged were promptly evaluated using RGB colorimetry on a smartphone. Central composite design was used to analyze and optimize the effective parameters on extraction efficiency. The relative standard deviations (RSDs%) based on five replicate measurements were less than 7.8% for RGB and 8.6% for the spectrophotometry technique under ideal conditions. Image analysis using a smartphone yielded LOD values of 15.0 and 10.5 μg L^-1 for Ery and CV, respectively. The CEME- μ-SPE -RGB approach produced findings that were equivalent to those obtained by spectrophotometry. Finally, the approach was used to accurately determine Ery and CV in water samples, yielding good relative recoveries (recovery ≥94.0).

Solid supports and supported liquid membranes for different liquid phase microextraction and electromembrane extraction configurations. A review

Liquid phase microextraction (LPME) and electromembrane microextraction (EME) can be considered as two of the most popular techniques in sample treatment today. Both techniques can be configurated as membrane-assisted techniques to carry out the extraction. These supports provide the required geometry and stability on the contact surface between two phases (donor and acceptor) and improve the reproducibility of sample treatment techniques. These solid support pore space, once is filled with organic solvents, act as a selective barrier acting as a supported liquid membrane (SLM). The SLM nature is a fundamental parameter, and its selection is critical to carry out successful extractions. There are numerous SLMs that have been successfully employed in a wide variety of application fields. The latter is due to the specificity of the selected organic solvents, which allows the extraction of compounds of a very different nature. In the last decade, solid supports and SLM have evolved towards "green" and environmentally friendly materials and solvents. In this review, solid supports implemented in LPME and EME will be discussed and summarized, as well as their applications. Moreover, the advances and modifications of the solid supports and the SLMs to improve the extraction efficiencies, recoveries and enrichment factors are discussed. Hollow fiber and flat membranes, including microfluidic systems, will be considered depending on the technique, configuration, or device used.

In-tube gel electromembrane extraction: A green strategy for the extraction of narcotic drugs from biological samples

The development of green and miniature extraction methods is always a major and controversial challenge in the field of sample preparation. In this work, in-tube gel electromembrane extraction (IT-G-EME) was developed as a miniaturized extraction device for the extraction of six narcotic drugs (codeine, oxycodone, hydrocodone, tramadol, thebaine, and noscapine) from biological samples. A transparent capillary tube (∼6 cm) was used as a microextraction unit. The middle part of the tube was filled with a narrow plug (∼3 mm) of the agarose gel (3.0% w/v) as a membrane and the other sides were filled with aqueous extractant solution (pH 2.0, 20 µL) and sample solution (pH 5.0, 200 µL). By applying electrical potential (400 V), the target drugs with positive charge were migrated from sample solution toward the extractant solution through gel membrane during short extraction time (5 min). Then, the enriched analytes in extractant solution was analyzed by HPLC-UV. Under the optimized conditions, the calibration curves were linear within the permissible range of 10.0-1500 ng/mL (r² ≥ 0.991). Limits of detection and extraction recoveries were in the range of 3.0-4.5 ng/mL and 61.9-86.9%, respectively. On the basis of four replications, the repeatability of the method was also evaluated in terms of intra- and inter-day RSDs (%), which did not exceed from 6.6 and 7.9%, respectively in aqueous media. The figures of merit were also assessed in biological samples. Eventually, the developed method was profitably used for simultaneous determination of narcotic drugs in the real urine and plasma samples.

Polyaniline-polycaprolactone electrospun nanofibrous mat: new polymeric support with anion exchange characteristic for immobilizing liquid membrane in efficient on-chip electromembrane extraction of polar acidic drugs

The potential of application of an electrospun nanofiber sheet as new polymeric support for immobilizing the liquid membrane, instead of a common commercial polypropylene sheet, in on-chip electromembrane extraction (EME) of some acidic polar drugs followed by HPLC with ultraviolet detection is presented. The nanofiber sheet was prepared by electrospinning a mixture of polycaprolactone and polyaniline. The successful synthesis of the electrospun nanofiber sheet was confirmed by field emission-scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, elemental mapping, and atomic force microscopy. Several parameters affecting the efficiency of the microextraction method, including pHs of the donor and acceptor phases, applied voltage, sample flow rate, phosphate content of the acceptor phase, and sample volume, were investigated and optimized. After optimization, the linearity range of 0.5-250.0 µg L^-1 and detection limits of 0.2-1.0 µg L^-1 were obtained for the analytes. The extraction recovery values and preconcentration factors were 10.7-55.3% and 16-83, respectively. The presence of polyaniline in the composition of the nanofibers significantly improved the extraction efficiency of the polar acidic drugs due to providing the possibility of various interactions with the target analytes such as hydrogen bonding, π-stacking, and anion exchange. The obtained results demonstrate the excellent efficiency of the synthesized electrospun nanofibrous mat as a novel support membrane for immobilizing 1-octanol and as an interactive substrate for electromembrane extraction of acidic polar drugs. Eventually, the proposed on-chip EME method exhibits acceptable precision (relative standard deviations less than 9.7% (n = 3)) and good accuracy (86-112%) for determining the target analytes in the plasma samples.

Carrasco-Correa E, Varanasupakul P, Kubáň P, Miró M. Programmable Millifluidic Platform Integrating Automatic Electromembrane Extraction Cleanup and In-Line Electrochemical Detection: A Proof of Concept

A fully automatic millifluidic sensing platform coupling in-line nonsupported microelectromembrane extraction (μ-EME) with electrochemical detection (ECD) is herein proposed for the first time. Exploiting the features of the second generation of flow analysis, termed sequential injection (SI), the smart integration of SI and μ-EME-ECD enables (i) the repeatable formation of microvolumes of phases for the extraction step in a membrane-less (nonsupported) arrangement, (ii) diverting the acceptor plug to the ECD sensing device, (iii) in-line pH adjustment before the detection step, and (iv) washing of the platform for efficient removal of remnants of wetting film solvent, all entirely unsupervised. The real-life applicability of the miniaturized sensing system is studied for in-line sample cleanup and ECD of diclofenac as a model analyte after μ-EME of urine as a complex biological sample. A comprehensive study of the merits and the limitations of μ-EME solvents on ECD is presented. Under the optimal experimental conditions using 14 μL of unprocessed urine as the donor, 14 μL of 1-nonanol as the organic phase, and 14 μL of 25 mM NaOH as the acceptor in a 2.4 mm ID PTFE tubing, an extraction voltage of 250 V, and an extraction time of 10 min, an absolute (mass) extraction recovery of 48% of diclofenac in urine is obtained. The proposed flow-through system is proven to efficiently remove the interfering effect of predominantly occurring organic species in human urine on ECD with RSD% less than 8.6%.

Electromembrane extraction of nicotine in inhaled aerosols from tobacco cigarettes, electronic cigarettes, and heated tobacco products

Heated tobacco products and electronic cigarettes are considered as alternatives to traditional tobacco cigarettes. However, it is crucial to monitor and compare the nicotine concentration in inhaled aerosols from these tobacco products, owing to the addictive nature and adverse effects of nicotine on human health. This study aimed to provide an electromembrane extraction (EME) combined liquid chromatography method to extract and determine nicotine in different inhaled aerosols. EME showed high extraction efficiency, selectivity, and sample clean-up capability. Under the optimal parameters, the linear range for nicotine was 0.1-200 mg L^-1 (r² > 0.9998), and the limit of detection was 0.02 mg L^-1. Good precision was obtained with the intra- and inter-day relative standard deviations of 2.2 % and 2.8 %, respectively. Repeatability was satisfactory (<7.7 %), and recoveries ranged from 81.0 % to 112.8 %. Finally, this method has been successfully used for the determination and comparison of nicotine in aerosols from these three tobacco products.

A novel 3D printed device with conductive elements for electromembrane extraction combined with HPLC and UV detector

This paper is focused on proposing for a new design and setup for electromembrane extraction. A new cap was designed and conductive vials of different shape were fabricated using three-dimensional printing. The new cap holds three fibers to enhance electromembrane extraction recovery. Conductive vials can simultaneously perform as electrodes therefore, there is no need to include an electrode in sample solutions. Phenobarbital and phenytoin were used as model compounds to assess the setup performance. Under optimal conditions, these analytes were extracted from the sample solution at pH = 9 to the acceptor solution at pH = 13 with a voltage of 40 V for 20 min, while 1-octanol was employed as the supported-liquid-membrane. The influence of conductive vials geometry on the recovery was examined and effects of different shapes were studied by performing numerical simulation to establish electric potential distribution. Of the vials tested with circular, triangular and floral-like cross-sections the latter exhibited the best voltage distribution. The circular vial had the highest recovery attributed to its better hydrodynamic shape, which allows rapid fluid sample transport and therefore enhanced system recovery. The extraction recovery and RSD of circular vial with three fibers was 33.0 and 7.6 for phenobarbital and 42.2 and 10.4 for phenytoin. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Recent progress of microfluidic technology for pharmaceutical analysis

In recent years, the progress of microfluidic technology has provided new tools for pharmaceutical analysis and the proposal of pharm-lab-on-a-chip is appealing for its great potential to integrate pharmaceutical test and pharmacological test in a single chip system. Here, we summarize and highlight recent advances of chip-based principles, techniques and devices for pharmaceutical test and pharmacological/toxicological test focusing on the separation and analysis of drug molecules on a chip and the construction of pharmacological models on a chip as well as their demonstrative applications in quality control, drug screening and precision medicine. The trend and challenge of microfluidic technology for pharmaceutical analysis are also discussed and prospected. We hope this review would update the insight and development of pharm-lab-on-a-chip.

Electromembrane extraction in microfluidic formats

Electromembrane extraction is a microextraction technique where charged analytes are extracted across a supported liquid membrane and selectively isolated from the sample based on an electrical field. Since the introduction in 2006, there has been continuously increasing interest in electromembrane extraction, and currently close to 50 new articles are published per year. Electromembrane extraction can be performed in different technical configurations, based on standard laboratory glass vials or 96-well plate systems, and applications are typically related to pharmaceutical, environmental, and food and beverages analysis. In addition to this, conceptual research has developed electromembrane extraction into different milli- and microfluidic formats. These are much more early-stage activities, but applications among others related to organ-on-chip systems and smartphone detection indicate unique perspectives. To stimulate more research in this direction, the current article reviews the scientific literature on electromembrane extraction in milli- and microfluidic formats. About 20 original research articles have been published on this subject so far, and these are discussed critically in the following. Based on this and the authors own experiences with the topic, we discuss perspectives, challenges, and future research.

A selective and efficient microfluidic method-based liquid phase microextraction for the determination of sulfonamides in urine samples

Liquid phase microextraction (LPME) into a microfluidic has undergone great advances focused on downscaled and miniaturized devices. In this work, a microfluidic device was developed for the extraction of sulfonamides in order to accelerate the mass transfer and passive diffusion of the analytes from the donor phase to the acceptor phase. The subsequent analysis was carried out by high performance liquid chromatography with UV-DAD (HPLC-DAD). Several parameters affecting the extraction efficiency of the method such as the supported liquid membrane, composition of donor and acceptor phase and flow rate were investigated and optimized. Tributyl phosphate was found to be a good supported liquid membrane which confers not only great affinity for analytes but also long-term stability, allowing more than 20 consecutive extractions without carry over effect. Under optimum conditions, extraction efficiencies were over 96 % for all sulfonamides after 10 minutes extraction and only 10 µL of sample was required. Relative standard deviation was between 3-5 % for all compounds. Method detection limits were 45, 57, 54 and 33 ng mL^-1 for sulfadiazine (SDI), sulfamerazine (SMR), sulfamethazine (SMT) and sulfamethoxazole (SMX), respectively. Quantitation limits were 0.15, 0.19, 0.18 and 0.11 µg mL^-1 for SDI, SMR, SMT SMX, respectively. The proposed microfluidic device was successfully applied for the determination of sulfonamides in urine samples with extraction efficiencies within the range of 86-106 %. The proposed method improves the procedures proposed to date for the determination of sulfonamides in terms of efficiency, reduction of the sample volume and extraction time.

An efficient microfluidic device based on electromembrane extraction for the simultaneous extraction of acidic and basic drugs

The simultaneous extraction of acidic and basic compounds is considered a great challenge. In this work, an efficient and fast microfluidic device is described for the simultaneous determination of acidic and basic drugs by two electromembrane extraction, offering extraction efficiencies over 98% for all analytes in human urine samples and solving the difficulties encountered to date. The sample is submitted into the device and the collected acceptor phase is directly analyzed by diode array detector and high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC). The device consisted of three poly(methylmethacrylate) layers and four electrodes to perform EME in two steps in a single device. Two acidic analytes (ketoprofen and naproxen) and two basic analytes (amitriptyline and loperamide) were selected as model analytes. The device proposed works under stable electric field conditions, low current intensities that confers great stability to the supported liquid membrane. After a comprehensive study of the SLM, 1:1 2-nitrophenyl octhyl ether:dodecanol was selected as optimal. This device has also been successfully applied in 1:2 diluted bovine plasma samples with recoveries over 84% and a relative standard deviation below 6%. This microfluidic device needs small sample volumes (lower than 50 μL) and offers short extraction times (10 min) and excellent clean-up. Furthermore, it has proven to be a robust and reproducible device after more than 30 consecutive extractions, and thanks to the low potential required (5 V), it allows its compatibility with a single battery.

Green microfluidic liquid-phase microextraction of polar and non-polar acids from urine

In this work, hippuric acid (log P = 0.5), anthranilic acid (log P = 1.3), ketoprofen (log P = 3.6), and naproxen (log P = 3.0) were simultaneously extracted by a green microfluidic device based on the principles of liquid-phase microextraction (LPME). Different deep eutectic solvents (DESs) were investigated as supported liquid membrane (SLM), and a mixture of camphor and menthol as eutectic solvents in the molar ratio 1:1 was found to be highly efficient for the simultaneous extraction of non-polar and polar acidic drugs. LPME was conducted for 6 min per sample. Urine sample was delivered to the system at 1 μL min^-1, and target analytes were extracted exhaustively (75-100% recovery) across the DES SLM, and into pure aqueous phosphate buffer pH 11.0 delivered as acceptor at 1 μL min^-1. The acceptor was analyzed with liquid chromatography-UV detection. Interestingly, the DES enabled extraction of both the polar and non-polar model analytes at the same time; all chemicals were green and non-hazardous, and the chemical waste was less than 1 mg per sample.

Microfluidic-enabled versatile hyphenation of electromembrane extraction and thin film solid phase microextraction

In the present study, a versatile combination of electromembrane extraction (EME) with thin film solid phase microextraction (TF-SPME) was introduced using a microfluidic chip device. The device consisted of two single channels on two separate layers. The upper channel was dedicated to donor phase flow pass, while the beneath channel was used as a reservoir for stagnant acceptor solution. A slide of fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) was accommodated in the bottom of the acceptor phase channel. A thin layer of polyaniline was electrodeposited on the FTO surface to achieve the required thin film for TF-SPME. A stainless-steel wire was embedded in the donor phase channel and another wire was also attached to the FTO surface. The channels were separated by a piece of polypropylene membrane impregnated with 1-octanol and the whole chip was fixed with bolts and nuts. The driving force for the extraction was an 8 V direct current (DC) voltage applied across the supported liquid membrane (SLM). Under the influence of the electrical field, analytes immigrated from sample towards the acceptor phase and then adsorbed on the thin film of the solid phase. Finally, the analytes were desorbed by successive movement of a desorption solvent in the acceptor phase channel followed by injection of the desorption solution to HPLC-UV. The applicability of the proposed device was demonstrated by the determination of four synthetic food dyes: Amaranth, Ponceau 4R, Allura Red, and Carmoisine, as the model analytes. The effective parameters on the efficiency of the both EME and TF-SPME were investigated. Under the optimized conditions, the microchip provided low LODs (1-10 μg L^-1), and a wide linear dynamic range of 10-1000 μg L^-1 for all analytes. The system also offered RSD values lower than 5.5% and acceptable reusability of the thin film for multiple extractions.

Comparison of three electromembrane-based extraction systems for NSAIDs analysis in human urine samples

A comparative study on the extraction efficiency of five non-steroidal anti-inflammatories was carried out using three different electromembrane extraction (EME) devices with different geometries. The employed setups were (a) a hollow fiber configuration (HF-EME), (b) a microfluidic device that allows working in semi-dynamic mode (μF-EME), and (c) a static miniaturized flat membrane device (FM-EME). Each system was applied to the extraction of salicylic acid (SAC), ketoprofen (KTP), naproxen (NAX), diclofenac (DIC), and ibuprofen (IBU) and subsequent determination by high-performance liquid chromatography with UV and fluorescence detection (HPLC/UV-DAD-FLD). Voltage, pH composition, and extraction time were optimized for all devices. Additionally, volume ratio was investigated for HF-EME and FM-EME and flow rate for the microfluidic device. HF-EME provides the best result in terms of sensitivity with a limit of detection (LOD) between 0.1 and 1.5 ng mL^-1 for SAC and KTP, respectively, while LODs for μF-EME were between 100 ng mL^-1 and 400 ng mL^-1 for SAC and DIC, respectively; however, a lower amount of sample was required. Finally, the obtained results, in terms of enrichment factors and extraction recoveries, were discussed to establish the advantages and disadvantages of each device. The proposed EME methods were successfully applied to the determination of the target analytes in fortified human urine samples. Graphical abstract.

Impact of ion balance in electromembrane extraction

Electromembrane extraction (EME) involves transfer of analyte ions from aqueous sample, through a supported liquid membrane (SLM), and into an aqueous acceptor solution under the influence of an external electrical field. In addition to target analyte ions, the sample also contains matrix ions, and both the sample and acceptor contains background buffer ions to control pH. The ratio between the total amount of ions in sample and acceptor defines the ion balance (χ). Previous publications have discussed the impact of ion balance, but conclusions are contradictory. Therefore, the current paper investigated the ion balance in more detail. From a theoretical point of view, low χ-values favor EME; buffer anions at high concentration in the acceptor migrate into the SLM, while target cations enters the SLM from the sample to maintain electroneutrality. A large number of experiments was performed in this paper to investigate the practical impact of ion balance. Twelve basic drugs were used as model analytes (0.0 < log P < 5.0), and 2-nitrophenyl octyl ether (NPOE) and NPOE + 5% di(2-ethylhexyl) phosphate (DEHP) were used as SLM. With formate buffer pH 3.75 as sample and acceptor, the impact of χ in the range 0.01-10 was studied without bias from differences in pH. Here model analytes were unaffected by ion balance. Buffers containing propionic, butyric, and valeric acid were also tested. These buffer ions migrated more into the SLM, and affected recoveries in several cases. However, this was due to ion pairing rather than effects of ion balance. Similar behaviors from sodium chloride and urine samples were observed with different χ-values. Thus, in the systems tested, almost no impact of ion balance was found, and this was attributed to very low partition of background buffer and matrix ions into the SLM. On the other hand, extractions were in several cases influenced by ion pairing phenomena.

Hollow fiber-based liquid phase microextraction followed by analytical instrumental techniques for quantitative analysis of heavy metal ions and pharmaceuticals

Hollow-fiber liquid-phase microextraction (HF-LPME) and electromembrane extraction (EME) are miniaturized extraction techniques, and have been coupled with various analytical instruments for trace analysis of heavy metals, drugs and other organic compounds, in recent years. HF-LPME and EME provide high selectivity, efficient sample cleanup and enrichment, and reduce the consumption of organic solvents to a few micro-liters per sample. HF-LPME and EME are compatible with different analytical instruments for chromatography, electrophoresis, atomic spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, and electrochemical detection. HF-LPME and EME have gained significant popularity during the recent years. This review focuses on hollow fiber based techniques (especially HF-LPME and EME) of heavy metals and pharmaceuticals (published 2017 to May 2019), and their combinations with atomic spectroscopy, UV-VIS spectrophotometry, high performance liquid chromatography, gas chromatography, capillary electrophoresis, and voltammetry.

Electromembrane Extraction Using Sacrificial Electrodes

In this paper, we report the first example of employing a sacrificial electrode in the acceptor solution during electromembrane extraction (EME). The electrode was based on a silver wire with a layer of silver chloride electroplated onto the surface. During EME, the electrode effectively inhibited electrolysis of water in the acceptor compartment, by accepting the charge transfer across the SLM, which enabled the application of 500 μA current without suffering gas formation or pH changes from electrolysis of water. The electroplating strategy was optimized with a design-of-experiments (DOE) methodology that provided optimal conditions of electroplating. With an optimized electrode, 1 cm of the electrode in contact with the acceptor solution inhibited electrolysis of water for approximately 30 min at 500 μA current (redox capacity). Further, the redox capacity of the electrode was found to increase through multiple uses. The advantage of the electrode was demonstrated by extracting polar analytes at high-current conditions in a standard EME system comprising 2-nitrophenyl octyl ether (NPOE) as SLM and 10 mM HCl as sample/acceptor solutions. Application of high current enabled significantly higher recoveries than could otherwise be obtained at 100 μA. Sacrificial electrodes were also tested in μ-EME and were found beneficial by eliminating detrimental bubble formation. Thus, the sacrificial electrodes improved the stability of μ-EME systems. The findings of this paper are important for development of stable and robust systems for EME operated at high voltage/current and for EME performed in narrow channels/tubing where bubble formation is critical.

Microextraction approaches for bioanalytical applications: An overview

Biological samples are usually complex matrices due to the presence of proteins, salts and a variety of organic compounds with chemical properties similar to those of the target analytes. Therefore, sample preparation is often mandatory in order to isolate the analytes from troublesome matrices before instrumental analysis. Because the number of samples in drug development, doping analysis, forensic science, toxicological analysis, and preclinical and clinical assays is steadily increasing, novel high throughput sample preparation approaches are calling for. The key factors in this development are the miniaturization and the automation of the sample preparation approaches so as to cope with most of the twelve principles of green chemistry. In this review, recent trends in sample preparation and novel strategies will be discussed in detail with particular focus on sorptive and liquid-phase microextraction in bioanalysis. The actual applicability of selective sorbents is also considered. Additionally, the role of 3D printing in microextraction for bioanalytical methods will be pinpointed.

A new microfluidic-chip device for selective and simultaneous extraction of drugs with various properties

In the present study, a newly designed microfluidic-chip device was used for the selective and simultaneous electromembrane extraction (EME) of drugs with different properties.