A green and efficient in-syringe ionic liquid-based single step microextraction procedure for preconcentration and determination of cadmium in water samples

•An in-syringe ionic liquid-based single step microextraction procedure has been developed.•Method avoids usage of lethal organic solvents, thermal dispersion and especially centrifugation step.•1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate [C4mim][PF6] was used as an extractant.•The method was satisfactorily applied to preconcentration of Cd in real samples. An in-syringe ionic liquid-based single step microextraction has been analytically presented. 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate as extractant and Triton X-100 as dispersing medium were used. Cd-Dithizone was extracted within a syringe. The effects of some variables such as [C4mim][PF6] volume, pH, TX-100 volume, dithizone concentration, incubation time, diluents nature and matrix effect were investigated. The limit of detection and preconcentration factor were found as 0.35μgL−1 and 50, respectively. The validity was checked by using certified reference materials. The relative standard deviation (RSD) was 4.2%. The method was satisfactorily applied to preconcentration of cadmium in natural water samples.