Evaluation of Gel Membranes in Electro-membrane Extraction Method with Green Chemistry Approach

Introducing new membranes with green chemistry approach seems to be a great challenge for the development of a practical method in separation science. Very recently, several novel green membranes based on a gel composition were introduced [1, 2]. Prepared from renewable and biodegradable resources, gel membranes are considered as an alternative to petroleum-based materials, opening the new horizons in green sample preparation. However, only a few published papers using this approach in sample preparation have been published so far [1-2]. For this reason, in this study, gel membranes such as agarose gel and polyacrylamide gel were used as novel green membranes in electro-membrane extraction (EME). The results showed that via gel membrane, polar analytes were efficiently extracted without using any reagents in the gel membrane. Different variables for fabrication of gel membrane and extraction condition were evaluated, and under the optimized condition, the extraction recoveries were observed as between 56.6% and 85.0%, and the limits of detections (LODs) were obtained in the acceptable range of 0.3 – 7.5 ng mL-1. Apart from the green features, the fabrication of gel membrane (e.g. agarose gel) is very simple and feasible, as it involves only mixing of agarose and water. Moreover, different thicknesses and shapes of the membrane can be easily achieved. In the other hand, fabrication of the new gel membranes from alginate, chitin, curdlan, chitosan, or xylan, and also investigation and development of flux mechanism of analytes across the gel membrane, could be one of the main research areas in the future. Therefore the authors are optimistic about the future of gel membranes in biological analysis.