Ion pair-based liquid-phase microextraction combined with cuvetteless UV–vis micro-spectrophotometry as a miniaturized assay for monitoring ammonia in waters

A miniaturized method based on liquid-phase microextraction (LPME) in combination with microvolume UV–vis spectrophotometry for monitoring ammonia in waters is proposed. The methodology is based on the extraction of the ion pair formed between the blue indophenol obtained according to the Berthelot reaction and a quaternary ammonium salt into a microvolume of organic solvent. Experimental parameters affecting the LPME performance such as type and concentration of the quaternary ammonium ion salt required to form the ion pair, type and volume of extractant solvent, effect of disperser solvent, ionic strength and extraction time, were optimized. A detection limit of 5.0 μg L−1 ammonia and an enrichment factor of 30 can be attained after a microextraction time of 4 min. The repeatability, expressed as relative standard deviation, was 7.6% (n = 7). The proposed method can be successfully applied to the determination of trace amounts of ammonia in several environmental water samples.