Headspace solvent microextraction: A new method applied to the preconcentration of 2-butoxyethanol from aqueous solutions into a single microdrop

A new procedure and experimental setup for the headspace solvent microextraction of volatile organic materials from aqueous sample solutions is described. The extraction occurs by suspending a 3-μl drop of the solvent from the tip of a microsyringe to the headspace of a stirred aqueous sample solution for a preset extraction time. The temperature of the microdrop and the bulk of sample solution should be kept constant at optimized values. The sample analyses were carried out by gas chromatography. The procedure was successfully applied to the extraction and determination of 2-butoxyethanol from content of some color samples used for painting the outer coverage of some machines such as coolers, refrigerator, cloths machine, etc. Parameters such as extraction time, nature of extraction solvent, size of microdrop, sample volume, stirring rate, ionic strength and pH of sample solution were studied and optimized, and the method performance was evaluated.