Analytical Separation Techniques for Environmental Analysis

A special issue of Separations (ISSN 2297-8739). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Separations".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 December 2022) | Viewed by 6991

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Technology, University of Zagreb, Marulićev trg 19, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
Interests: environmental analytical chemistry; emerging contaminants; environmental fate and behavior; degradation products; chromatography; mass spectrometry; photocatalysis
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E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Technology, University of Zagreb, Marulićev trg 19, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
Interests: environmental analytical chemistry (water samples, soil, sediments); emerging contaminants; sample preparation (solid-phase extraction, matrix-solid phase dispersion, microwave extraction, ultrasonic extraction, etc.); liquid chromatography; sorption; photocatalysis
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Environmental pollution is a global challenge as it causes damage to ecosystems worldwide. Growing concern about environmental pollution raises the issue of pollution control, limiting the release of unwanted substances into the environment. In addition to regulated contaminants, increasing attention is being paid to a number of unregulated chemicals classified as contaminants of emerging concern (CECs). CECs whose monitoring is of particular significance include pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs), endocrine disruptors (EDs), illicit drugs, newly registered pesticides, and disinfection by-products (DBPs). For pollution control, reliable analytical methods play an important role as a first step of study, as they allow the determination of the presence of contaminants in the environment, assessment of their concentration levels, investigation of their distribution between different environmental compartments and determination of their degradation pathways. Due to the complexity of environmental matrices and the number of analytes, powerful separation techniques are necessary for environmental analysis.

This Special Issue aims to present the latest findings in the development and application of analytical separation techniques in environmental analysis, including identification and quantitative determination as well as the investigation of contaminants’ environmental fate and behavior. The Special Issue includes, but is not limited to, sample preparation techniques, chromatography, capillary electrophoresis, and mass spectrometry. Papers on quality assurance, including the evaluation of measurement uncertainty, of the environmental analysis results will also be welcome.

Prof. Dr. Sandra Babić
Prof. Dr. Dragana Mutavdžić Pavlović
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • environmental pollution
  • environmental fate and behavior
  • degradation/transformation products
  • sample preparation
  • liquid chromatography (HPLC, LC)
  • gas chromatography (GC)
  • capillary electrophoresis (CE)
  • mass spectrometry (MS, MS-MS)
  • uncertainty in environmental analysis

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

12 pages, 2261 KiB  
Article
Determination of Ultra-Trace Amounts of Copper in Environmental Water Samples by Dispersive Liquid-Liquid Microextraction Combined with Graphite Furnace Atomic Absorption Spectrometry
by Quan Han, Xiaohui Yang, Yanyan Huo, Jiale Lu and Yaqi Liu
Separations 2023, 10(2), 93; https://doi.org/10.3390/separations10020093 - 30 Jan 2023
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 2476
Abstract
A new method of dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (DLLME) combined with graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GFAAS) was proposed for the determination of ultra-trace copper. It was based on the reaction of Cu(II) with the laboratory-prepared chelating agent 2-(5-bromo-2-pyridylazo)-5-dimethylaminoaniline (5-Br-PADMA) in a HAc-NaAc buffer [...] Read more.
A new method of dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (DLLME) combined with graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GFAAS) was proposed for the determination of ultra-trace copper. It was based on the reaction of Cu(II) with the laboratory-prepared chelating agent 2-(5-bromo-2-pyridylazo)-5-dimethylaminoaniline (5-Br-PADMA) in a HAc-NaAc buffer solution at pH 5.0 to form stable hydrophobic chelates, which were separated and enriched by DLLME with chlorobenzene (C6H5Cl) and acetonitrile (CH3CN) as extraction and disperser solvents, respectively. The sedimented phase containing the chelates was then determined with GFAAS. Various operating variables that may be affected by the extraction process such as the pH of the solution, the concentration of the chelating agent 5-Br-PADMA, the types and volumes of extraction and disperser solvents, the extraction time, and the centrifugation time were investigated. Under optimum conditions, the calibration curve was linear in the range from 0.02 ng/mL to 0.16 ng/mL of copper with a correlation coefficient of r = 0.9961, and the detection limit was 0.01 ng/mL based on 3Sb. The relative standard deviation for six replicate measurements of 0.05 ng /mL of copper was 3.9%. An enrichment factor (EF) of 110 was obtained. The method has the advantages of low detection limit, high sensitivity, simple operation, less consumption of organic solvents, higher enrichment factor, and environmental friendliness and was applied to the determination of trace copper in environmental water samples with satisfactory results. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Analytical Separation Techniques for Environmental Analysis)
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20 pages, 2698 KiB  
Article
Simultaneous Extraction of Four Antibiotic Compounds from Soil and Water Matrices
by Alison M. Franklin, Danielle M. Andrews, Clinton F. Williams and John E. Watson
Separations 2022, 9(8), 200; https://doi.org/10.3390/separations9080200 - 2 Aug 2022
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3741
Abstract
The incidence of antibiotic resistance is on the rise and becoming a major health concern. Analyzing the presence of antibiotic compounds in the environment is critical for determining the potential health effects for humans, animals, and ecosystems. For this study, methods were developed [...] Read more.
The incidence of antibiotic resistance is on the rise and becoming a major health concern. Analyzing the presence of antibiotic compounds in the environment is critical for determining the potential health effects for humans, animals, and ecosystems. For this study, methods were developed to simultaneously isolate and quantify four antibiotics important in human medicine (sulfamethoxazole—SMX, trimethoprim—TMP, lincomycin—LIN, and ofloxacin—OFL) in water and soil matrices. For water analysis, different solid phase extraction (SPE) cartridges (Oasis HLB plus and Phenomenex Strata-X) were compared. The Oasis HLB Plus SPE cartridge provided the highest and most consistent recoveries with 118 ± 5%, 86 ± 4%, 83 ± 5%, and 75 ± 1% for SMX, TMP, LIN, and OFL, respectively. For soil analysis, different pre-treatments (grinding and freeze-drying) and soil extraction methodologies (liquid-solid extraction and accelerated solvent extraction (ASE)) were compared. The ASE system resulted in the highest overall recoveries of SMX, TMP, LIN, and OFL with an optimal extracting solution of acetonitrile/water (v/v, 50:50, pH 2.8). When the soil was ground and freeze-dried, trimethoprim recovery increased and when soil was ground, but not freeze-dried, LIN and OFL recoveries increased, while sulfamethoxazole recoveries decreased when soil was ground and freeze-dried. Based on this research, matrix characteristics, especially pH, as well as the pKa’s and functional groups of the antibiotics need to be carefully considered when attempting to extract antibiotic compounds from a water or soil environment. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Analytical Separation Techniques for Environmental Analysis)
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