Mixed Magnetic Dispersive Micro-Solid Phase–Cloud Point Extraction of Sunset Yellow in Food and Pharmaceutical Samples

Abstract

The simple and green separation/pre-concentration technique combining magnetic dispersive micro-solid phase extraction (MD-μ-SPE) with cloud point extraction (CPE) was applied for the trace determination of sunset yellow FCF (SY). Reduced graphene oxide-cobalt oxide nanocomposite (RGO-Co3O4) with high extraction ability as a suitable adsorbent was synthesized and characterized. In the proposed method, rapid and reproducible extraction is accomplished, lending reduced analysis time and relative inertness to surfactant concentration and equilibration temperature compared to conventional CPE. The influences of solution pH, concentration of sunset yellow, amount of RGO-Co3O4, and triton X-35 surfactant (10% w/v) volume on the extraction performance of SY were investigated and optimized by multivariate optimization strategy. The proposed method, combining two different and effective techniques, offers satisfactory analytical features in terms of the limit of detection (9 ng mL 1 ), repeatability (1.8%), and accuracy (89– 102%). Furthermore, the MD-μ-SPE/CPE method showed a good ability to analyze SY in food and pharmaceutical samples.