Application of Fusarium sp. immobilized on multi-walled carbon nanotubes for solid-phase extraction and trace analysis of heavy metal cations.

In the present work, for the first time, the filamentous fungus Fusarium sp. was utilized for devising a novel method for pre-concentration and determination of trace amounts of Pb(II), Cu(II), Cd(II), and Zn(II) ions, using a mini-column packed with Fusarium-coated multi-walled carbon nanotubes and inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry. Optimal analytical conditions including pH, ionic strength, elution solution, sample and eluent flow rates, and sample volume were determined. The detection limits were 0.39, 0.060, 0.021, and 0.025 ng mL ^-1 for Pb(II), Cu(II), Cd(II), and Zn(II) cations, respectively. This new method demonstrated a high performance for the analytes, and their adsorption was not affected by the different co-existing ions. The present procedure was validated by the analysis of standard reference materials, since the obtained data were in close agreement with reference values. Finally, this new procedure was successfully applied to analysis of heavy metal cations in natural food and water samples.
Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
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