Ultrasound assisted-ionic liquid-dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction for preconcentration of inorganic tellurium in environmental water samples prior to inductively coupled plasma – Optical emission spectrometry detection

In this study, a rapid, simple, selective and highly efficient ultrasound assisted-ionic liquid-dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (UA-IL-DLLME) for preconcentration of tellurium in environmental water samples has been developed. The concentration of Te after microextraction was quantified using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). Experimental parameters that enhances in the performance of the microextraction process were optimized using a multivariate strategy. Under optimized conditions the enrichment factor, limits of detection (LOD) and limits of quantification (LOQ) were 850, 0.42 ng L^− 1 and 1.4 ng L^− 1, respectively. The intra-day (n = 11) and inter-day (n = 5) precisions expressed in terms of relative standard deviations (RSD) were found to be 2.3% and 4.5%, respectively. The accuracy of the developed method was tested by analyzing a standard reference material (SRM 1643e, trace elements in water), a drinking water certified reference material (CRM-TMDW) and spiked real water samples. The obtained values were in good agreement with the certified or added values and the recoveries were > 95%. In addition, the UA-IL-DLLME/ICP-OES method was applied for the determination of Te in different water samples.