Determination of anionic surface active agents using silica coated magnetite nanoparticles modified with cationic surfactant aggregates

Abstract

The development of a novel methodology for extraction and preconcentration of the most commonly used anionic surface active agents (SAAs), linear alkylbenzene sulfonates (LAS), is presented herein. The present method, based on the use of silica-magnetite nanoparticles modified with cationic surfactant aggregates, was developed for determination of C-10-C-13 LAS homologues. The proposed methodology allowed quantitative recoveries of C-10-C-13 LAS homologues by using a reduced amount of magnetic nanoparticles. Limits of detection were in the range 0.8-1.9 mu g L-1 for C-10-C-13 LAS homologues, while the repeatability, expressed as relative standard deviation (RSD), ranged from 2.0 to 3.9% (N = 6). Finally, the proposed method was successfully applied to the analysis of a variety of natural water samples. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.