An efficient microfluidic device based on electromembrane extraction for the simultaneous extraction of acidic and basic drugs.

The simultaneous extraction of acidic and basic compounds is considered a great challenge. In this work, an efficient and fast microfluidic device is described for the simultaneous determination of acidic and basic drugs by two electromembrane extraction, offering extraction efficiencies over 98% for all analytes in human urine samples and solving the difficulties encountered to date. The sample is submitted into the device and the collected acceptor phase is directly analyzed by diode array detector and high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC). The device consisted of three poly(methylmethacrylate) layers and four electrodes to perform EME in two steps in a single device. Two acidic analytes (ketoprofen and naproxen) and two basic analytes (amitriptyline and loperamide) were selected as model analytes. The device proposed works under stable electric field conditions, low current intensities that confers great stability to the supported liquid membrane. After a comprehensive study of the SLM, 1:1 2-nitrophenyl octhyl ether:dodecanol was selected as optimal. This device has also been successfully applied in 1:2 diluted bovine plasma samples with recoveries over 84% and a relative standard deviation below 6%. This microfluidic device needs small sample volumes (lower than 50 μL) and offers short extraction times (10 min) and excellent clean-up. Furthermore, it has proven to be a robust and reproducible device after more than 30 consecutive extractions, and thanks to the low potential required (5 V), it allows its compatibility with a single battery.