A novel block copolymer containing gadolinium oxide nanoparticles in ultrasound assisted-dispersive solid phase microextraction of total arsenic in human foodstuffs: A multivariate optimization methodology.

A new poly(3-hydroxy butyrate)-b-poly(dimethyl amino ethyl methacrylate) amphiphilic block copolymer containing gadolinium oxide nanoparticles (PHB-PDMAEMA-Gd ₂ O ₃ -NPs) were synthesized and used as composite adsorbent for extraction of total arsenic. Characterization of the composite adsorbent material PHB-PDMAEMA-Gd ₂ O ₃ -NP was studied using spectroscopic techniques. Plackett-Burman design and central composite design were employed to screening and optimization of the experimental parameters. This composite adsorbent was utilized in ultrasound assisted-dispersive solid phase microextraction (UA-dSPµE) for the determination of total inorganic arsenic in foodstuffs through hydride generation atomic absorption spectrometry (HG-AAS). It demonstrates a linear relationship across arsenic concentration range of 0.07-1.12 µg/L with a correlation coefficient (0.996). It's showed an enrichment factor of 128 and a limit of detection 0.02 µg/L for total inorganic arsenic determination. Accuracy of the developed method was confirmed through the analysis of certified reference materials with 96.0-98.5% recovery. It proved to be significantly useful UA-dSPµE method for determining total inorganic arsenic in different foodstuffs.
Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
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