ac0155815_si_003.pdf (21.35 kB)
Water Soxhlet Extraction Assisted by Focused Microwaves: A Clean Approach
journal contribution
posted on 2001-11-10, 00:00 authored by J. L. Luque-García, M. D. Luque de CastroA prototype of a Soxhlet extractor that enables the use of
water as extractant and application of focused microwaves
on the cartridge zone has been designed and checked. The
approach consists of a single unit in which the shortening
of the distillation glassware allows reception of the water
vapor in a refrigerant connected to the top of the sample
cartridge vessel, its condensation, and dropping on the
solid sample. When the water into the cartridge has
reached a given level, irradiation with focused microwaves
during an optimized time accelerates the leaching of the
target analytes. Then, a valve is actuated and the extract
is driven to the distillation flask where the leached species
are concentrated as new vapor is formed and sent to the
refrigerant and then to the cartridge. This new hybrid
discontinuous−continuous approach has been used for
leaching acid herbicides from different types of soil. The
time required for total removal of the target compounds
was 48 min. A flow injection manifold made posible the
integration of the subsequent steps (preconcentration,
chromatographic separation, UV detection) for the determination of the analytes, the recoveries of which range
from 105.24 to 96.44%.