A functionalised carbon fiber for flexible extraction and determination of hg(Ii) using au(np)‐thiol‐cf inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry

Abstract

This work illustrates the improvement in ultra‐trace Hg(II) determination in water based on a novel flexible extraction and preconcentration technique (FEPT). This method focuses on the covalent functionalisation of carbon fibre (CF) based on (3‐mercaptopropyl)trimethoxysilane. The functionalisation of CF is carried out in two steps: functionalising the surface of CF using acid treatment to obtain hydroxy and carboxyl groups on the surface, followed by a condensation reaction between the carboxyl or hydroxy groups on the carbon (CF‐OH) and (3‐mercaptopropyl)trimethox-ysilane to form mercapto‐CF (CF‐SH). FTIR, EDX, SEM, XRD and UV‐Vis were utilised to confirm the modification. ICP‐MS is utilised to determine the Hg(II) and to assess the influence of the memory effect on the results using Au3+ solution and suspended Au nanoparticles (Au‐NPs). The result shows that the Au‐NPs improve Hg(II) detection and eliminate the memory effect. This study also includes appropriate parameters for contact time, eluent solution, pH, and the foreign metal and ions preconcentration factor. As a result, thiol‐CF shows high Hg(II) uptake, flexibility, and stability during the analysis process, with a recovery of 98.96% ± 0.41% for 10 preconcentration fac-tors. These features make FEPT a valuable method for extracting pollutants and overcoming the problems associated with the analysis of such samples.