Application of microextraction techniques for indirect spectrophotometric determination of fluorides in river waters

The present study is dedicated to development of improved method for determination of trace amounts of fluorides in natural waters which is based on the interaction of fluorides with ion associate (IA) of Al(III), salicylic aldehyde acylhydrazones (benzhydrazone (SABH) and 4-picolinhydrazone (SAPH)) and polymethine dye Astra Phloxine FF (AP). Comparison of analytical forms [Al(SABH)(2)]center dot AP and [Al(SAPH)(2)]center dot AP showed that the analytical system Al(III)-SAPH-AP is more effective, namely, a higher level of preconcentration of the analytical form is ensured by and extraction equilibrium is achieved faster. Based on the study, we propose a new, fast, simple, reliable, sensitive, and accurate method of the indirect UV-Vis-spectrophotometric determination of fluorides grounded on the interaction of fluorides with IA of Al(III), SAPH and AP with the utilization of vortex-assisted liquid-liquid microextraction (VALLME). The method is based on the discoloration of the microextract of IA of Al(III), SAPH and AP (Al-SAPH-AP) in presence of fluoride ions due to the formation of fluoride complexes of aluminum with higher stability. The effect of various factors has been studied. The optimal conditions of the UV-Vis-spectrophotometric determination of fluorides were defined as: pH 7.0-10.0, 1.0.10(-6) mol.L-1 Al(III); 4.0.10(-5) mol.L-1 SAPH; 1.0.10(-6) mol.L-1 AP; lambda = 560 nm. VALLME have been carried out in 250 mu L of CCl4 at 20:1 vol ratios of aqueous and organic phases, with vortexing at 3000 rpm for 15 s followed by centrifugation at 2000 rpm for 2 min. The determination of fluorides is feasible in the presence of various interferences. The calibration curve shows the linear dependence in the range of 0.3-114 mu g.L-1 of the fluorides concentration (R-2 = 0.993) with the limit of detection of 0.086 mu g.L-1 and the limit of determination of 0.284 mu g.L-1. The accuracy of the proposed protocol of fluorides determination was verified towards a reference method on the samples of natural rivers waters (RSD 2.6-3.1%, recovery 98.3-101.4%).