Modified Activated Carbon Prepared from Acorn Shells as a New Solid-Phase Extraction Sorbent for the Preconcentration and Determination of Trace Amounts of Nickel in Food Samples Prior to Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrometry

A new solid-phase extraction (SPE) sorbent was introduced based on acidic-modified (AM) activated carbon (AC) prepared from acorn shells of native oak trees in Kurdistan. Hydrochloric acid (15%, w/w) and nitric acid (32.5%, wlw) were used to condition and modify AC. The IR spectra of AC and AM-AC showed that AM lead to the formation of increasing numbers of acidic functional groups on AM-AC. AM-AC was used in the SPE method for the extraction and preconcentration of Ni+2 prior to flame atomic absorption spectrometric determination at ng/mL levels in model and real food samples. Effective parameters of the SPE procedure, such as the pH of the solutions, sorbent dosage, extraction time, sample volume, type of eluent, and matrix ions, were considered and optimized. An enrichment factor of 140 was obtained. The calibration curve was linear with an R-2 of 0.997 in the concentration range of 1-220 ng/mL. The RSD was 5.67% (for n = 7), the LOD was 0.352 ng/mL, and relative recoveries in vegetable samples ranged from 96.7 to 103.7%.