Simultaneous Determination of Carbazoles in Water Samples by Cloud Point Extraction Coupled to HPLC

Cloud point extraction (CPE) as a rapid, simple and efficient method coupled with high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was used for sample preparation and subsequent determination of carbazole, trinitrocarbazole (TrNC) and tetra nitro carbazole (TNC) in water samples. Some effective parameters on extraction, such as volume of Triton X-100, extraction time, extraction temperature, ionic strength and centrifuging time were studied and optimized. Under the optimum conditions, recoveries of analytes were in the range of 98.0–102.0%. The calibration curve was linear in the range of 0.08 to 15.0 μg mL−1 for TNC, 0.06 to 15.2 μg mL−1 for TrNC, and 0.08–21.0 μg mL−1 for carbazole. Limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) were in the range of 0.009 -0.01 and 0.06-0.08μg mL−1, respectively. The relative standard deviations (RSDs) were in the range of 4.0- 6.2 %. The obtained results show that CPE with a high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) is a sensitive and simple method for the determination of carbazole, TrNC and TNC in water samples.