Supercritical fluid extraction followed by supramolecular solvent microextraction as a fast and efficient preconcentration method for determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in apple peels

In this work, reverse micelle‐based supramolecular solvent microextraction method coupled with supercritical fluid extraction and used for determining trace amounts of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in apple peels. The extract was analyzed by high‐performance liquid chromatography equipped with a fluorescence detector. Coupling supramolecular solvent microextraction with supercritical fluid extraction method, resolve low preconcentration factor of supercritical fluid extraction method, improved limit of detection of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and allow the use of supramolecular solvent microextraction in solid matrices. The effective parameters on the supramolecular solvent microextraction and supercritical fluid extraction efficiency were optimized using one variable at a time and face centered design methods, respectively. Under the optimum condition, the limits of detection and limits of quantifications were in the range of 0.34–1.27 and 1.03–3.82 µg/kg, respectively. Analysis of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in apple peels showed that the supercritical fluid extraction/ supramolecular solvent microextraction method provide great potential for trace analysis of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in fruit samples (RSDs < 7.7%).     

Determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in vegetable oils using solid-phase microextraction-comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography coupled with time-of-flight mass spectrometry

A simple and fast solid-phase microextraction method coupled with comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography with time-of-flight mass spectrometry was developed for analysis of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in edible oil, performed directly in a hexane solution of the oil. Sampling conditions (solvent used, extraction time, extraction temperature and fiber rinsing time) were optimized by using a sample of oil fortified with a standard solution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. The method was validated by calculating linear range, correlation coefficient, accuracy, repeatability, detection limit and quantification limit. The method was applied to several oils collected from the market and directly from an olive pomace extraction plant.     

Optimization of multiwalled carbon nanotubes reinforced hollow‐fiber solid–liquid‐phase microextraction for the determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in environmental water samples using experimental design

A novel design of hollow‐fiber liquid‐phase microextraction containing multiwalled carbon nanotubes as a solid sorbent, which is immobilized in the pore and lumen of hollow fiber by the sol–gel technique, was developed for the pre‐concentration and determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in environmental water samples. The proposed method utilized both solid‐ and liquid‐phase microextraction media. Parameters that affect the extraction of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons were optimized in two successive steps as follows. Firstly, a methodology based on a quarter factorial design was used to choose the significant variables. Then, these significant factors were optimized utilizing central composite design. Under the optimized condition (extraction time = 25 min, amount of multiwalled carbon nanotubes = 78 mg, sample volume = 8 mL, and desorption time = 5 min), the calibration curves showed high linearity (R ² = 0.99) in the range of 0.01–500 ng/mL and the limits of detection were in the range of 0.007–1.47 ng/mL. The obtained extraction recoveries for 10 ng/mL of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons standard solution were in the range of 85–92%. Replicating the experiment under these conditions five times gave relative standard deviations lower than 6%. Finally, the method was successfully applied for pre‐concentration and determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in environmental water samples.     

Method for the simultaneous determination of monoaromatic and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in industrial effluents using dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction with gas chromatography–mass spectrometry

We present a new method for simultaneous determination of 22 monoaromatic and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in postoxidative effluents from the production of petroleum bitumen using dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction coupled to gas chromatography and mass spectrometry. The eight extraction parameters including the type and volume of extraction and disperser solvent, pH, salting out effect, extraction, and centrifugation time were optimized. The low detection limit ranging from 0.36 to 28 μg/L, limit of quantitation (1.1–84 μg/L), good reproducibility, and wide linear ranges, as well as the recoveries ranging from 71.74 to 114.67% revealed that the new method allows the determination of aromatic hydrocarbons at low concentration levels in industrial effluents having a very complex composition. The developed method was applied to the determination of content of mono‐ and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in samples of raw postoxidative effluents in which 15 compounds were identified at concentrations ranging from 1.21 to 1017.0 μg/L as well as in effluents after chemical treatment.     

Layer‐by‐layer self‐assembly of a novel covalent organic frameworks microextraction coating for analyzing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from aqueous solutions via gas chromatography

In this study, a new covalent organic framework, consisting of tetra(4‐aminophenyl)porphyrin and tris(4‐formyl phenyl)amine, was layer‐by‐layer immobilized on stainless‐steel wire as a coating for microextraction. The fabrication process was easy and controllable under mild conditions. The as‐grown fiber was applied to extract polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in aqueous solution via head‐space solid‐phase microextraction. Furthermore, it was analyzed by gas chromatography with a flame ionization detector. A wide linear range (0.1–50 µg/L), low limits of detection (0.006–0.024 µg/L, signal‐to‐noise ratio = 3), good repeatability (intra‐fiber, n = 6, 3.1–8.50%), and reproducibility (fiber to fiber; n = 3, 5.79–9.98%), expressed as relative standard deviations, demonstrate the applicability of the newly developed coating. This new material was successfully utilized in real sample extraction with a satisfactory result. Potential parameters affecting the extraction efficiency, including extraction temperature and extraction time, salt concentration, agitation speed, sample volume, desorption temperature, and time, were also optimized and discussed.     

Mesoporous titanium oxide with high‐specific surface area as a coating for in‐tube solid‐phase microextraction combined with high‐performance liquid chromatography for the analysis of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

Stainless‐steel wires coated with mesoporous titanium oxide were placed into a polyether ether ketone tube for in‐tube solid‐phase microextraction, and the coating sorbent was characterized by X‐ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. It was combined with high‐performance liquid chromatography to build an online system. Using eight polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons as the analytes, some conditions including sample flow rate, sample volume, organic solvent content, and desorption time were investigated. Under optimum conditions, an online analysis method was established and provided good linearity (0.03–30 μg/L), low detection limits (0.01–0.10 μg/L), and high enrichment factors (77.6–678). The method was applied to determine target analytes in river water and water sample of coal ash, and the recoveries are in the range of 80.6–106.6 and 80.9–103.5%, respectively. Compared with estrogens and plasticizers, extraction coating shows better extraction efficiency for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.     

Accelerated solvent extraction combined with dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction before gas chromatography with mass spectrometry for the sensitive determination of phenols in soil samples

A method combining accelerated solvent extraction with dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction was developed for the first time as a sample pretreatment for the rapid analysis of phenols (including phenol, m‐cresol, 2,4‐dichlorophenol, and 2,4,6‐trichlorophenol) in soil samples. In the accelerated solvent extraction procedure, water was used as an extraction solvent, and phenols were extracted from soil samples into water. The dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction technique was then performed on the obtained aqueous solution. Important accelerated solvent extraction and dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction parameters were investigated and optimized. Under optimized conditions, the new method provided wide linearity (6.1–3080 ng/g), low limits of detection (0.06–1.83 ng/g), and excellent reproducibility (<10%) for phenols. Four real soil samples were analyzed by the proposed method to assess its applicability. Experimental results showed that the soil samples were free of our target compounds, and average recoveries were in the range of 87.9–110%. These findings indicate that accelerated solvent extraction with dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction as a sample pretreatment procedure coupled with gas chromatography and mass spectrometry is an excellent method for the rapid analysis of trace levels of phenols in environmental soil samples.     

Extraction and enrichment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons by ordered mesoporous carbon reinforced hollow fiber liquid‐phase microextraction

A novel microextraction method, ordered mesoporous carbon reinforced hollow fiber liquid‐phase microextraction coupled with high‐performance liquid chromatography and fluorescence detection, was developed for the determination of some organic pollutants in water samples. Four polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (fluorene, anthracene, fluoranthene, and pyrene) were selected to validate this new method. Main parameters that could influence the extraction efficiency such as extraction time, fiber length, stirring rate, the type of the extraction solvent, pH value, the concentration of ordered mesoporous carbon, and salt effect were optimized. Under the optimal extraction conditions, good linearity was observed in the range of 2–1000 ng/L, with the correlation coefficients of 0.9954–0.9986. The recoveries for the spiked samples were in the range of 88.96–100.17%. The limits of detection of the method were 0.4–4 ng/L. The relative standard deviations varied from 4.2–5.9%. The results demonstrated that the newly developed method was an efficient pretreatment and enrichment procedure for the determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in environmental water samples.     

Dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction using an in situ metathesis reaction to form an ionic liquid extraction phase for the preconcentration of aromatic compounds from water

A novel microextraction method is introduced based on dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction (DLLME) in which an in situ metathesis reaction forms a water-immiscible ionic liquid (IL) that preconcentrates aromatic compounds from water followed by separation using high-performance liquid chromatography. The simultaneous extraction and metathesis reaction forming the IL-based extraction phase greatly decreases the extraction time as well as provides higher enrichment factors compared to traditional IL DLLME and direct immersion single-drop microextraction methods. The effects of various experimental parameters including type of extraction solvent, extraction and centrifugation times, volume of the sample solution, extraction IL and exchanging reagent, and addition of organic solvent and salt were investigated and optimized for the extraction of 13 aromatic compounds. The limits of detection for seven polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons varied from 0.02 to 0.3 μg L⁻¹. The method reproducibility produced relative standard deviation values ranging from 3.7% to 6.9%. Four real water samples including tap water, well water, creek water, and river water were analyzed and yielded recoveries ranging from 84% to 115%.      

An in‐needle solid‐phase microextraction device packed with etched steel wires for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons enrichment in water samples

A novel, low‐cost and effective in‐needle solid‐phase microextraction device was developed for the enrichment of trace polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in water samples. The in‐needle solid‐phase microextraction device could be easily assembled by inserting hydrofluoric acid‐etched wires, which were used as adsorbent, into a 22‐gauge needle tube within spring supporters. Compared with the commercial solid‐phase microextraction fiber, the developed device has higher efficiency for the extraction of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons with four to six rings from water samples using the optimized extraction conditions. With gas chromatography equipped with a flame ionization detector, the limits of detection for the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons with four to six rings ranged from 0.0020 to 0.0067 ng/mL. The relative standard deviations for one needle and needle‐to‐needle extractions were in the range of 5.2–9.9% (n = 5) and 3.4–12.3% (n = 5), respectively. The spiked recoveries of the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in tap water samples ranged from 73.2 to 95.4%. This in‐needle solid‐phase microextraction device could be a good field sampler because of the low sample loss over a long storage time.     

Determination of aromatic amines from textiles using dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction

A dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction procedure coupled with GC‐MS is described for preconcentration and determination of banned aromatic amines from textile samples. Experimental conditions affecting the microextraction procedure were optimized. A mixture of 30 μL chlorobenzene (extraction solvent) and 800 μL ACN (disperser solvent), 5 min extraction time, and 5 mL aqueous sample volume were chosen for the best extraction efficiency by the proposed procedure. Satisfactory linearity (with correlation coefficients >0.9962) and repeatability (<9.78%) were obtained for all 20 aromatic amines; detection limits attained were much lower than the standardized liquid–liquid method. The proposed method has advantages of being quicker and easier to operate, and lower consumption of organic solvent.     

Hydroxyundecanethiol-Modified Steel Fibers for the Selective Solid-Phase Microextraction of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons from River and Wastewater

A novel organic–inorganic composite-coated fiber was developed for selective solid-phase microextraction (SPME) by direct electrodeposition of zinc oxide microparticles on a pretreated stainless steel wire followed by self-assembly of hydroxyundecanethiol with zinc–sulfur bonds. The performance of the hydroxyundecyl-modified zinc oxide-coated steel fiber was then assessed for SPME of polar aromatic compounds coupled to high-performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection. Excellent extraction and selectivity were obtained for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. The extraction and desorption times, temperature, stirring rate, and ionic strength were optimized. The limits of detection were from 0.034 to 0.132?µg?L^?1. The relative standard deviations were from 3.4 to 4.9% for a single fiber and from 5.1 to 6.4% for multiple fibers. The recovery of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in environmental water fortified at 5.0 and 50?µg?L^?1 was from 83.1 to 103% with relative standard deviations below 8.4%. This fiber was shown to withstand at least 200 extraction and desorption cycles. The method was used for the preconcentration and determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in environmental water.     

Dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction followed by reversed phase HPLC for the determination of decabrominated diphenyl ether in natural water

A simple, rapid, and efficient method, dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (DLLME), has been developed for the extraction and preconcentration of decabrominated diphenyl ether (BDE-209) in environmental water samples. The factors relevant to the microextraction efficiency, such as the kind and volume of extraction and dispersive solvent, the extraction time, and the salt effect, were optimized. Under the optimum conditions (extraction solvent: tetrachloroethane, volume, 22.0 microL; dispersive solvent: THF, volume, 1.00 mL; extraction time: below 5 s and without salt addition), the most time-consuming step is the centrifugation of the sample solution in the extraction procedure, which is about 2 min. In this method, the enrichment factor could be as high as 153 in 5.00 mL water sample, and the linear range, correlation coefficient (r(2)), detection limit (S/N = 3), and precision (RSD, n = 6) were 0.001-0.5 microg/mL, 0.9999, 0.2 ng/mL, and 2.1%, respectively. This method was successfully applied to the extraction of BDE-209 from tap, East Lake, and Yangtse River water samples; the relative recoveries were 95.8, 92.9, and 89.9% and the RSD% (n = 3) were 1.9, 2.7, and 3.5%, respectively. Comparison of this method with other methods, such as solid-phase microextraction (SPME), and single-drop microextraction (SDME), indicates that DLLME is a simple, fast, and low-cost method for the determination of BDE-209, and thus has tremendous potential in polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) residual analysis in environmental water samples.     

Dynamic three-phase hollow fiber microextraction based on two immiscible organic solvents with automated movement of the acceptor phase

Dynamic three-phase hollow fiber liquid-liquid-liquid microextraction (HF-LLLME) based on two immiscible organic solvents, with automated movement of organic acceptor phase to facilitate mass transfer was introduced for the first time. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons were used as model compounds and extracted from water and soil samples. The extraction involved filling an 8 cm length of hollow fiber with 25 μL of organic acceptor solvent using a microsyringe, followed by impregnation of the pores in the fiber wall with n-dodecane. The fiber was then immersed in 20 mL of aqueous sample solution. During extraction, the organic acceptor phase was repeatedly moved in the lumen of the hollow fiber by movement of the syringe plunger controlled by programmable syringe pump. Following this microextraction, 2 μL of organic acceptor phase was injected into gas chromatography-flame ionization detector. This new technique provided up to 554-fold preconcentration of the analytes under the optimized conditions. Good repeatabilities (with RSDs ≤8.4%) were obtained. Detection limits were in the range of 0.2-0.5 μg/L. The utilization of the proposed method for extraction of the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from different real samples (such as water and soil samples) also gave good precision and recovery.     

Solid phase microextraction assisted by droplets-based liquid-liquid microextraction for analysis of volatile aromatic hydrocarbons in water by gas chromatography

A new technique for the analysis of volatile aromatic hydrocarbons by combining liquid-liquid microextraction with solid phase microextraction has been developed. The analytes were extracted from aqueous samples by an immobilized polydimethylsiloxane fiber assisted by the droplets of an appropriate organic solvent. Benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and o-xylene were used as target analytes. The main factors potentially affecting the microextraction such as the nature and the volume of organic solvent, polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) swelling, extraction time, agitation, temperature, and salts were optimized. The method requires a very low consumption of organic solvent. The relative enrichment factor is in the range of 7.1-32.4 for extraction in the presence of dichloromethane at an optimum volume of 18 μL mL(-1) of aqueous sample. This enhancement over regular polydimethylsiloxane fiber is primarily the result of the fiber swelling and of a stable thin layer of organic solvent attached to the surface of the PDMS fiber. The limit of detection ranges from 0.02 to 0.65 ng mL(-1) for the target compounds using a 7-μm bonded polydimethylsiloxane coating and a flame ionization detector. The validity of this method is demonstrated by the analysis of a real waste water sample.     

Basalt fibers functionalized with gold nanoparticles for in‐tube solid‐phase microextraction

Basalt fibers were functionalized with gold nanoparticles and characterized by scanning electron microscopy and energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy. An in‐tube solid‐phase microextraction device was developed by packing the functionalized basalt fibers in a polyether ether ketone tube. The device was connected into high performance liquid chromatography equipment with a diode array detector to build online enrichment and analysis system. Eight polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons were used as model analytes, important factors including sampling rate, sampling volume, organic solvent content in sample, and desorption time were investigated. Linear range (0.01–20 μg/L), detection limits (0.003–0.015 μg/L), and enrichment factors (130–1628) were given by the online analysis method. Relative standard deviations (n = 5) of extraction repeatability on one tube and tube‐to‐tube repeatability were less than 5.2 and 14.7%, respectively. The analysis method was applied to detect polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in environmental water samples, and relative recoveries ranged from 87 to 128%.     

Chemically Deposited Sol–Gel Film on Porous TiO<Subscript>2</Subscript> Nanotube Arrays as an Efficient and Unbreakable Solid-Phase Microextraction Fiber

In the present study, a novel technique was proposed to improve the performance of solid-phase microextraction fibers through the chemical deposition of polydimethylsiloxane/divinylbenzene film on modified TiO₂ nanotube arrays substrate. Two different techniques, including the self-assembled monolayer of 3-mercaptopropyl trimethoxysilane and NaOH treatment, were examined to modify the surface of TiO₂ nanotube arrays. The morphology of the prepared fibers was studied by scanning electron microscopy. The applicability of the novel fiber was evaluated through the headspace solid-phase microextraction of some polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons as the model compounds followed by GC–MS determination. Influencing parameters on the extraction efficiency such as extraction time, temperature and salt content were studied and optimized. The thermal stability experiments demonstrated that the novel fiber was stable at 280 °C and reusable for more than 80 times without an obvious decrease in the extraction performance. The proposed method was successfully applied to the determination of PAHs in river water samples with good relative recoveries from 75.8 to 104.5% and the relative standard deviation values for all analytes were below 12%. Finally, the extraction performance of the prepared fiber was compared with those of commercially available fibers and similar previously reported fibers.     

Selective solid-phase microextraction of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in water based on oriented phosphorus-containing titanium oxide nanofibers grown on titanium support prior to high-performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection

A novel solid-phase microextraction coating of phosphorous-containing titanium oxide composite was developed using titanium fiber as a support and a titanium source by hydrothermal oxidation in a phosphoric acid solution containing hydrogen peroxide. The morphology of the fiber coatings was controlled by the conditions of the hydrothermal oxidation reaction. The oriented nanofiber coating was employed to extract several types of representative aromatic analytes. The experimental results demonstrated that the as-prepared fiber exhibited excellent extraction efficiency toward polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Combined with high-performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection, main extraction conditions were optimized, including pH, ionic strength, extraction temperature, stirring rate, extraction time and desorption time. The established method presented good linearity from 0.05 to 200 μg/L with limit of detection ranging from 0.012 to 0.126 μg/L. This convenient and green procedure was suitable for the selective extraction and determination of typical polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in environmental water samples. The relative recoveries of 85.8–112% were obtained for the determination of target polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in water samples spiked with 5.0 and 15.0 μg/L. Moreover, the as-prepared fiber showed at least 210 extraction/desorption cycles due to its high mechanical and chemical stability.     

Preparation of bamboo-derived magnetic biochar for solid-phase microextraction of fentanyls from urine

In this study, a biochar-based magnetic solid-phase microextraction method, coupled with liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry, was developed for analyzing fentanyl analogs from urine sample. Magnetic biochar was fabricated through a one-step pyrolysis carbonization and magnetization process, followed by an alkali treatment. In order to achieve desired extraction efficiency, feed stocks (wood and bamboo) and different pyrolysis temperatures (300–700°C) were optimized. The magnetic bamboo biochar pyrolyzed at 400°C was found to have the greatest potential for extraction of fentanyls, with enrichment factors ranging from 58.9 to 93.7, presumably due to H-bonding and π–π interactions between biochar and fentanyls. Various extraction parameters, such as type and volume of desorption solvent, pH, and extraction time, were optimized, respectively, to achieve the highest extraction efficiency for the target fentanyls. Under optimized conditions, the developed method was found to have detection limits of 3.0–9.4 ng/L, a linear range of 0.05–10 μg/L, good precisions (1.9–9.4% for intrabatch, 2.9–9.9% for interbatch), and satisfactory recoveries (82.0–111.3%). The developed method by using magnetic bamboo biochar as adsorbent exhibited to be an efficient and promising pretreatment procedure and could potentially be applied for drug analysis in biological samples.     

Utilization of water-contained surfactant-based ultrasound-assisted microextraction followed by liquid chromatography for determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and benzene in commercial oil sample

In this work, a microextraction method, water-contained surfactant-based ultrasound-assisted, followed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was developed for determination of five polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and benzene in commercial oil samples. During the microextraction method, a micellar solution as the only extraction solvent was injected into the oil sample in a conical bottom glass tube and formed a cloudy solution. The dispersion process was accelerated by applying ultrasound irradiation. Phase separation was done by centrifugation and then the lower sediment phase was directly analyzed by HPLC. A chemometrics approach was applied for the optimization of the extraction condition. Under the optimum conditions, the proposed method showed good linearity within the different ranges for different analytes (e.g., 0.10–200 ng mL^?1 for phenanthrene), the square of the correlation coefficient was higher than 0.999 and the appropriate limit of detection was in the range of 0.04–0.41 ng mL^?1. The recoveries in all cases were above 95 %.