The paper presents novel nonionic and hydrophobic deep eutectic solvents which were synthesized from natural compounds, i.e., thymol, ±camphor, decanoic and 10-undecylenic acids. Fundamental physicochemical properties of the synthesized deep eutectic solvents were determined, followed by their application as extractants in ultrasound-assisted dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction to isolate and enrich polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from aqueous samples characterized by a complex matrix. The final determination was carried out by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The most important extraction parameters were optimized and the procedure was validated. The developed procedure is characterized by low limits of detection and quantitation, equal to 0.0039-0.0098 μg/L and 0.012-0.029 μg/L, respectively, good precision (RSD <6.09%), analyte recovery ranging from 73.5 to 126.2%, and a wide linear range. The procedure was applied to analysis of industrial effluents from the production of bitumens before and after treatment by advanced oxidation processes. A total of 16 PAHs at concentrations ranging from 0.12 to 46.2 μg/L were identified and determined.
Keywords: Deep eutectic solvents; Dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction; Gas chromatography; Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; Sample preparation; Water analysis.
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