Solar energy-based electromembrane extraction using agarose gel for the determination of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs from biological samples: An environmentally friendly strategy.

This paper presents the application of solar energy as a renewable resource in gel electromembrane extraction (G-EME). The extraction driving force (electrical field) generated from solar energy is stored through photovoltaic panels and significantly contributes to reducing the emission of greenhouse gasses. Moreover, the replacement of the polypropylene membrane and organic extracting solvents with biodegradable agarose membrane and the aqueous extracting solutions makes the presented approach compatible with the principles of green chemistry. Naproxen (NAP) and ibuprofen (IBF) were extracted from urine samples to the aqueous acceptor phase containing an anode electrode situated on the other side of the agarose gel membrane. Acceptable linearity was obtained in the concentration ranges of 6-100 and 9-100 μg. L - 1 with detection limits of 2 and 3 μg. L - 1 for NAP and IBF, respectively.