Determination of Trace Antimony (III) in Water Samples with Single Drop Microextraction Using BPHA-[C(4)mim][PF(6)] System Followed by Graphite Furnace Atomic Absorption Spectrometry

A new sensitive method for antimony (III) determination by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GFAAS) has been developed by using N-benzoyl-N-phenylhydroxylamine (BPHA) and 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate ([C(4)mim][PF(6)]) single drop microextraction. The single drop microextraction (SDMM) system is more competitive compared with other traditional extraction methods. Under the optimized conditions, the limit of detection (signal-to-noise ratio is 3) and the enrichment factor of antimony (III) are 0.01 μg·L(−1) and 112, respectively. The relative standard deviation of the 0.5 μg·L(−1) antimony (III) is 4.2% (n=6). The proposed method is rather sensitive to determinate trace antimony (III) in water.