Investigation of adsorption mechanism of Fe, Cu, and Zn ions in extraction and preconcentration process on synthesized graphene oxide using an indole derivative

3-(chloro(2-methyl-1H-indol-3-yl)methyl)-2-methyl-1H-indole (MIMI) was chosen for separation and preconcentration of iron (III), copper (II), and zinc by solid-phase extraction (SPE). Ion–MIMI chelates are adsorbed onto synthesized graphene oxide (GO) as adsorbent, eluted with HNO3 and determined by flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS). The adsorption mechanism of titled metal complexes on GO was investigated by using computational chemistry approach based on PM7 semi-empirical potential energy surface. The influences of analytical parameters were investigated. The interference effect of common cations tested did not interfere with the recovery of understudied ions. The preconcentration factor of 312.5 and the detection limits of 0.62, 0.28, and 0.05 ng mL−1 for iron (III), copper (II), and zinc, respectively, were obtained. The developed SPE method was successfully utilized for the determination of trace metal ions in different certified reference materials and real samples (including water, cheese, honey, tomato, leaves of spinach, and milk) by FAAS.