Trace nickel analysis in water samples via paper-based devices coupled with co-precipitation

A simple, fast, low-cost and sensitive microfluidic paper-based analytical device (u-PADs) integrated with the co-precipitation enrichment procedure was developed to analyse Ni(II) in tap and mineral water samples. The impacting factors, including pH, centrifugation (5 min at 4000 rpm), and amounts of reagents were optimized. The limit of detection of 0.009 mg L-1 and linear range of 0.03-2.00 mg L-1 were achieved with good intra- and inter-day precision (4.7 and 5.6% RSD, respectively). The recovery tests were conducted by spiking tap and mineral water samples and analyzed using the u-PADs after co-precipitation enrichment. The results obtained by the proposed method were validated by inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). The recoveries of the present method and ICP-OES were ranged from 92.4-106.8% and 92.9-97.2%, respectively. The two sets of (u-PADs and ICP-OES) results were in good agreement, as a paired t-test indicated no significant differences. The proposed method could be utilized for analyzing trace levels of Ni(II) in water samples in developing countries where the availability of conventional analytical instruments are significant problems.