Journal of Analytical & Bioanalytical Techniques
Open Access

Research Article

Microemulsification-Based Method: Coupling with Separation Technique

Gabriela Furlan Giordano^1,2, Karen Mayumi Higa^1,2, Adriana Santinom^1,2, Angelo Luiz Gobbi¹, Lauro Tatsuo Kubota^2,3 and Renato Sousa Lima^1,2*

¹Laboratory of Microfabrication , National Nanotechnology Laboratory , National Center for Research in Energy and Materials, Campinas , Sao Paulo, Brasil

²Instituto of Chemistry , State University of Campinas, Campinas, Sao Paulo, Brasil

³Instituto National Science and Technology Bioanalytics, Campinas, Sao Paulo, Brasil

*Corresponding Author:

Renato Sousa Lima
Laboratory of Microfabrication
National Nanotechnology Laboratory
National Center for Research in Energy and Materials
Campinas , Sao Paulo 13083-970, Brasil
Tel: +55 19 3512 3566
E-mail: renato.lima@lnnano.cnpem.br

Received date: July 07, 2015; Accepted date: July 21, 2015; Published date: July 28, 2015

Citation: Giordano GF, Higa KM, Santinom A, Gobbi AL , Kubota LT, et al. (2015) Microemulsification-Based Method: Coupling with Separation Technique.J Anal Bioanal Tech 6:261 doi:10.4172/2155-9872.1000261

Copyright: © 2015 Giordano GF, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

The outcomes described herein outline the potentiality of the microemulsification-based method (MEC) for development of rapid testing (point-of-use) technologies. MEC was recently proposed by these authors for analytical determinations wherein the detection is conducted in solution with naked eyes. It relies on effect of analyte over the colloid thermodynamics by changing the minimum volume fraction of amphiphile needed to generate microemulsions (MEs) (ΦME), which represents the analytical response of the method. We report in this paper the successfully coupling of MEC-based detection with gas diffusion separation. Such result extends the field of application of MEC in analytical sciences by improving its selectivity. One custom-designed module was constructed on PTFE for the separation measurements. It was utilized in combination with MEC for determining water in ethanol fuels using water/ n-propanol/oleic acid MEs and water-rich compositions. In this situation, accurate direct determinations by MEC are not possible. In addition, further studies on analytical performance and robustness of MEC by using n-propanol amphiphile are described. The method was robust as regards to deviations in dispersion preparing and changes in temperature. Concerning the analytical performance, the analytical curves presented wide linear range with limits of linearity of up to 70.00% v/v ethanol to water (ΦE). The limits of detection (S/N=3) were of 1.03%, 7.21%, and 0.68% v/v ΦE for compositions with water- (region A) and oil-rich (region C) domains as well as equal volumes of water and oil phases (region B), respectively. With respect to the regions A and B, the analytical performance stressed herein exhibited best linearity and comparable sensitivities when compared to these levels reached with ethanol amphiphile (our first publication on MEC) rather than n-propanol.

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