Hydroxyfullerene as a novel coating for solid-phase microextraction fiber with sol-gel technology

Hydroxyfullerene (fullerol) as a novel coating for solid-phase microextraction (SPME) fiber was first prepared by a sol-gel technology. The coating procedure involving sol solution composition and conditioning process was presented. A fullerene polysiloxane surface-bonded porous coating on the fused-silica fiber surface was obtained and confirmed by IR spectra and scanning electron microscopy. The coating has stable performance at high temperature (even to 360 degrees C) and solvents (organic and inorganic) because of the properties of fullerene and the chemical binding between the coating and the fiber surface. The extraction properties of the new coatings to less volatile organic compounds, such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and polar aromatic amines were investigated using headspace SPME coupled with GC-electron-capture detection and GC-flame ionization detection. In addition, compared with commercial SPME stationary phases, the new coatings showed higher sensitivity, faster velocities of mass transfer for aromatic compound, and possessed planarity molecular recognition for PCBs. Moreover, this fiber was firm, inexpensive, durable and can be prepared simply. The fiber-to-fiber reproducibility was very good.     

固相微萃取中高分子涂层的研究

聚甲基乙烯基硅氧烷首次被用作固相微萃取（ＳＰＭＥ）装置的固相涂层,通过顶空固相微萃取气相色谱分析（ＨＳ－ＳＰＭＥ－ＧＣ）对使用聚甲基乙烯基硅氧烷固相涂层的ＳＰＭＥ装置进行了评价。对其使用厚度、温度及选择性进行了较深入的研究,找到了它的最佳使用条件和适用范围,并与商品化的ＳＰＭＥ涂层作了比较。对ＨＳ－ＳＰＭＥ－ＧＣ和ＨＳ－ＧＣ两种方法也作了比较,指出两者的适用范围不同。     

Electrodeposited polyaniline as a fiber coating for solid-phase microextraction of organochlorine pesticides from water

The study on the performance of polyaniline as a fiber coating for solid-phase microextraction (SPME) purposes has been reported. Polyaniline coatings were directly electrodeposited on the surface of a stainless steel wire and applied for the extraction of some organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) from water samples. Analyses were performed using GC-electron capture detection (GC-ECD). The results obtained show that polyaniline fiber coating is suitable for the successful extraction of organochlorine compounds. This behavior is most probably due to the porous surface structure of polyaniline film, which provides large surface areas and allowed for high extraction efficiency. Experimental parameters such as adsorption and desorption conditions were studied and optimized. The optimized method has an acceptable linearity, with a concentration range of 1-5000 ng/L. Single fiber repeatability and fiber-to-fiber reproducibility were less than 12 and 17%, respectively. High environmental resistance and lower cost are among the advantages of polyaniline fibers over commercially available SPME fibers. The developed method was applied to the analysis of real water samples from Yangtse River and Tianmu Lake.     

In vitro evaluation of new biocompatible coatings for solid-phase microextraction: Implications for drug analysis and in vivo sampling applications

A new line of solid-phase microextraction (SPME) coatings suitable for use with liquid chromatography applications was recently developed to address the limitations of the currently available coatings. The proposed coatings were immobilized on the metal fiber core and consisted of a mixture of proprietary biocompatible binder and various types of coated silica (octadecyl, polar embedded and cyano) particles. The aim of this research was to perform in vitro assessment of these new SPME fibers in order to evaluate their suitability for drug analysis and in vivo SPME applications. The main parameters examined were extraction efficiency, solvent resistance, preconditioning, dependence of extraction kinetics on coating thickness, carryover, linear range and inter-fiber reproducibility. The performance of the proposed coatings was compared against commercial Carbowax-TPR (CW-TPR) coating, when applicable. The fibers were evaluated for the extraction of drugs of different classes (carbamazepine, propranolol, pseudoephedrine, ranitidine and diazepam) from plasma and urine. The analyses were performed using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. The results show that the fibers perform very well for the extraction of biological fluids with no sample pre-treatment required and can also be used for in vivo sampling applications of flowing blood. A coating thickness of 45 μm was found to be a good compromise between extraction capacity and extraction kinetics. Due to the high extraction efficiency of these coatings, pre-equilibrium SPME with very short extraction times (2 min) can be employed to increase sample throughput. Inter-fiber reproducibility was ≤11% R.S.D. (n = 10) for model drugs examined in plasma, which is a significant improvement over polypyrrole coatings reported in literature, and permits single fiber use for in vivo applications.     

Determination of aldehydes in drinking water using pentafluorobenzylhydroxylamine derivatization and solid-phase microextraction

A headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) procedure followed by gas chromatography and electron capture detection (GC-ECD) has been developed for the determination of aldehydes in drinking water samples at microg/l concentrations. A previous derivatization with o-(2,3,4,5,6-pentafluorobenzyl)hydroxylamine hydrochloride (PFBHA) was performed due to the high polarity and instability of these ozonation by-products. Several SPME coatings were tested and the divinylbenzene-polydimethylsiloxane (DVB-PDMS) coating in being the most suitable for the determination of these analytes. Experimental SPME parameters such as selection of coating, sample volume, addition of salt, extraction time and temperature of desorption were studied. Analytical parameters such as precision, linearity and detection limits were also determined. HS-SPME was compared to liquid-liquid microextraction (proposed in US Environmental Protection Agency Method 556) by analyzing spiked water samples; a good agreement between results obtained with both techniques was observed. Finally, aldehydes formed at the Barcelona water treatment plant (N.E. Spain) were determined at levels of 0.1-0.5 microg/l. As a conclusion, HS-SPME is a powerful tool for determining ozonation by-products in treated water.     

Enhancing extraction rate in solid-phase microextraction by using nano-structured polyaniline coating

The decrement of equilibrium extraction time without losing extraction efficiency in solid-phase microextraction (SPME) was achieved using nano-structured coating. Polyaniline (PANI) was used as an extraction phase for the comparison of extraction capacity and equilibrium extraction time of nano- and micro-structured coatings. Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were used as model compounds to examine the extraction properties of nano- and micro-structured coatings. The results revealed that nano-structured PANI coating showed higher extraction rate and shorter desorption time than micro-structured coating, because of the larger surface area. In order to evaluate the extraction capability of prepared nano-structured PANI coating, headspace-SPME method was used for the determination of PCBs in sediment samples by GC-electron capture detector. The proposed method was validated using the certified reference material.     

固相微萃取-气相色谱法测定红葡萄酒中残留的有机磷农药

采用溶胶-凝胶包埋技术制备了耐高温固相微萃取头(SPME),用该萃取头与气相色谱-热离子化检测器联用对红葡萄酒中的12种有机磷农药残留进行了测定。实验中对搅拌速度、萃取时间、盐浓度等条件进行了优化。结果表明,在样品用量25 mL,搅拌速度1250 r/min,盐浓度 150 g/L,萃取时间30 min的条件下,绝大多数组分峰面积的相对标准偏差（RSD）在5%以下,各种有机磷农药的检测限为5 ng/L到0.38 μg/L。     

Simultaneous determination of phenyl- and sulfonyl-urea herbicides in river water at sub-parts-per-billion level by on-line preconcentration and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry

A method based on solid-phase microextraction and gas chromatography flame photometric detector for the determination of organophosphorus pesticides (OPPs) in food samples was described. Three kinds of vinyl crown ether polar fibers were prepared with sol-gel process and used for the analytes. The new coatings showed higher extraction efficiency and sensitivity for organophosphorus pesticides compared with commercial fibers—85 μm PA and 65 μm PDMS-DVB. Specifically, the benzo-15-crown-5 coating was the most effective for the target analytes. Several factors affecting the performance of SPME such as extraction temperature and time, salt addition, and dilution ratios of samples were optimized. The apparent recoveries of spiked food samples (apple juice, apple and tomato) were determined to be over 55.3% and the limits of detection (LODs) were in the range of 0.003-0.09 ng/g for the OPP studied. The method was applied to determine the concentrations of OPP in real food samples.     

Multiwalled carbon nanotubes coated fibers for solid-phase microextraction of polybrominated diphenyl ethers in water and milk samples before gas chromatography with electron-capture detection

Determination of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in environmental samples has raised great concerns due to the widespread use of PBDEs and their potential risk to humans. Solid-phase microextraction (SPME) is a fast, simple, cost-effective, and green sample preparation technique and is widely used for environmental analysis, but reports on the application of SPME for determination of PBDEs are very limited, and only a few publications dealing with commercial SPME fibers are available for extraction of PBDEs. Herein, we report a novel SPME method using multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) as the SPME fiber coating for gas chromatography with electron-capture detection (GC-ECD) of PBDEs in environmental samples. The MWCNTs coating gave much higher enhancement factors (616-1756) than poly (5% dibenzene-95% dimethylsiloxane) coating (139-384) and activated carbon coating (193-423). Thirty-minute extraction of 10 mL of sample solution using the MWCNTs coated fiber for GC-ECD determination yielded the limits of detection of 3.6-8.6 ng L(-1) and exhibited good linearity of the calibration functions (r(2)>0.995). The precision (RSD%, n=4) for peak area and retention time at the 500 ng L(-1) level was 6.9-8.8% and 0.6-0.9%, respectively. The developed method was successfully applied for the analysis of real samples including local river water, wastewater, and milk samples. The recovery of the PBDEs at 500 ng L(-1) spiked in these samples ranged from 90 to 119%. No PBDEs were detected in the river water and skimmed milk samples, whereas in the wastewater sample, 134-215 ng L(-1) of PBDEs were found. The PBDEs were detected in all whole fat milk samples, ranging from 13 to 484 ng L(-1). In a semiskimmed milk sample, only BDE-47 was found at 21 ng L(-1).     

Surface energy characteristics of toner particles by automated inverse gas chromatography

This study develops a method for the analysis of biocides Irgarol 1051 and Sea Nine 211 in environmental water samples, using solid-phase microextraction (SPME). Their determination was carried out using gas chromatography with flame thermionic (FTD), electron-capture (ECD) and mass spectrometric detection. The main parameters affecting the SPME process such as adsorption-time profile, salt additives and memory effect were studied for five polymeric coatings commercially available for solid-phase microextraction: poly(dimethylsiloxane) (100 and 30 microm), polyacrylate, poly(dimethylsiloxane)-divinylbenzene (PDMS-DVB 65 microm) and Carbowax-divinylbenzene (65 microm). The method was developed using spiked natural waters such as tap, river, sea and lake water in a concentration range of 0.5-50 microg/l. All the tested fiber coatings have been evaluated with regard to sensitivity, linear range, precision and limits of detection. Typical RSD values (triplicate analysis) in the range of 3-10% were obtained depending on the fiber coating and the compound investigated. The recoveries of biocides were in relatively high levels 60-118% and the calibration curves were reproducible and linear (R2>0.990) for both analytes. The SPME partition coefficients (Kf) of both compounds were also calculated experimentally in the proposed conditions for all fibers using direct sampling. Finally the influence of organic matter such as humic acids on extraction efficiency was studied, affecting mostly Sea Nine 211 uptake by the fiber. Optimum analytical SPME performance was achieved using the PDMS-DVB 65 microm fiber coating in ECD and FTD systems for Sea Nine 211 and Irgarol 1051, respectively.     

用于磷酸酯和甲基膦酸酯类化合物测定的固相微萃取新型涂层

以羟基硅油和二乙烯基苯为涂层材料 ,采用溶胶 凝胶技术和自由基引发交联的方法制备了一种新型的固相微萃取探头。采用顶空固相微萃取与气相色谱联用的方法模拟检测了水中磷酸酯和甲基磷酸酯类化合物。与商品化固相微萃取探头相比 ,该新型涂层可获得高的萃取效率。甲基膦酸二甲酯、磷酸三甲酯和磷酸三丁酯的最低检测限分别为 0 34,2 2 0和 0 0 1mg/L,相对标准偏差为 3 6 7%～ 6 4 4 % ,线性范围为 1～ 2个数量级 ,方法重现性好 ,回收率为 89 4 6 %～ 90 88%。     

Using fast gas chromatography-mass spectrometry with auto-headspace solid-phase microextraction to determine ultra trace residues of organophosphorus pesticides in fruits

Organophosphorus pesticides (OPs) in apple and tomato were determined by using fast gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (FGC-MS) coupled with auto-headspace solid-phase microextraction (SPME). The experimental conditions of FGC were investigated and developed. Three different fibers were studied and compared and it was found that the polydimethysiloxane (PDMS) was the best. Factors affecting the extract efficiency, such as extraction time, temperature, ion strength, agitator speed, and content of organic solvents, were investigated and optimized. The limits of detection (LOD) of OPs were achieved between 0.002 ng/g and 0.955 ng/g; the RSD was less than 20.9%, and the recoveries were from 79% to 117%. For most commercial fruit samples, ultra trace residues of OPs were found, mainly on the surface, and their concentrations were generally lower than LOD of conventional methods.     

Solid-phase microextraction: a promising technique for sample preparation in environmental analysis

Solid-phase microextraction (SPME) is a simple and effective adsorption and desorption technique, which eliminates the need for solvents or complicated apparatus, for concentrating volatile or nonvolatile compounds in liquid samples or headspace. SPME is compatible with analyte separation and detection by gas chromatography and high-performance liquid chromatography, and provides linear results for wide concentrations of analytes. By controlling the polarity and thickness of the coating on the fibre, maintaining consistent sampling time, and adjusting other extraction parameters, an analyst can ensure highly consistent, quantifiable results for low concentration analytes. To date, about 400 articles on SPME have been published in different fields, including environment (water, soil, air), food, natural products, pharmaceuticals, biology, toxicology, forensics and theory. As the scope of SPME grew, new improvements were made with the appearance of new coatings that allowed an increase in the specificity of this extraction technique. The key part of the SPME fibre is of course the fibre coating. At the moment, 27 variations of fibre coating and size are available. Among the newest are a fibre assembly with a dual coating of divinylbenzene and Carboxen suspended in poly(dimethylsiloxane), and a series of 23 gauge fibres intended for specific septumless injection system. The growth of SPME is also reflected in the expanding number of the accessories that make the technology even easier to use Also available is a portable field sampler which is a self-contained unit that stores the SPME fibre after sampling and during the shipment to the laboratory. Several scientific publications show the results obtained in inter-laboratory validation studies in which SPME was applied to determine the presence of different organic compounds at ppt levels, which demonstrates the reliability of this extraction technique for quantitative analysis.     

Analysis of anatoxin-a using polyaniline as a sorbent in solid-phase microextraction coupled to gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

A simple and sensitive method for determining anatoxin-a in aqueous samples was developed using solid-phase microextraction (SPME) and gas chromatography with mass spectrometry (GC-MS) detection. Three forms of polyaniline (PANI) films and a single form of polypyrrole (PPY) film were prepared and applied for SPME. The extraction properties of these films to anatoxin-a were examined and it was shown that leucoemeraldine form of PANI displayed a better selectivity to this compound. SPME conditions were optimized by selecting the appropriate extraction parameters, including type of coating (leucoemeraldine form of PANI at 32 microm thicknesses), salt concentration (10%, w/v), time of extraction (30 min) and stirring rate (1000 rpm). The calibration curve was linear in the range from 50 to 10,000 ng/ml, with the detection limit (S/N = 3) of 11.2 ng/ml. This method was successfully applied for the analysis of anatoxin-a in the cultured media of two species of cyanobacteria.     

Role of counteranions in polymeric ionic liquid-based solid-phase microextraction coatings for the selective extraction of polar compounds

A polymeric ionic liquid (PIL) poly(1-vinyl-3-hexylimidazolium chloride) (poly(ViHIm⁺Cl⁻)) was designed as a coating material for solid phase microextraction (SPME) to extract polar compounds including volatile fatty acids (VFAs) and alcohols. The extracted analytes were analyzed by using gas chromatography (GC) coupled with flame ionization detection (FID). Extraction parameters of the HS–SPME–GC–FID method, such as ionic strength, extraction temperature, pH and extraction time were optimized. Calibration studies were carried out under the optimized conditions to further evaluate the performance of the PIL-based SPME coating. For comparison purposes, the PIL poly(1-vinyl-3-hexylimidazolium bis[(trifluoromethyl)sulfonyl]imide) (poly(ViHIm⁺NTf₂⁻)) was also used as the SPME coating to extract the same analytes. The results showed that the poly(ViHIm⁺Cl⁻) PIL coating had higher selectivity towards more polar analytes due to the presence of the Cl⁻ anion which provides higher hydrogen bond basicity than the NTf₂⁻ anion. The limits of detection (LODs) determined by the designed poly(ViHIm⁺Cl⁻) PIL coating ranged from 0.02 μg L⁻¹ for octanoic acid and decanoic acid and 7.5 μg L⁻¹ for 2-nitrophenol, with precision values (as relative standard deviation) lower than 14%. The observed performance of the poly(ViHIm⁺Cl⁻) PIL coating was comparable to previously reported work in which commercial or novel materials were used as SPME coatings. The selectivity of the developed PIL coatings was also evaluated using heptane as the matrix solvent. This work demonstrates that the selectivity of PIL-based SPME coatings can be simply tuned by incorporating different counteranions to the sorbent coating.     

Determination of bisphenol A in water by isotope dilution headspace solid-phase microextraction and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry without derivatization

The original solid-phase microextraction (SPME) fibers use an epoxy resin adhesive that releases bisphenol A (BPA) during thermal desorption of the fiber. This adversely affects the method detection limit and accuracy when these products are used for the determination of BPA. In this work, 5 new metal alloy SPME fibers that do not use epoxy resins were compared for the extraction of BPA in water. The performance of the optimum SPME fiber with 60 microm carbowax-polyethylene glycol coating for the headspace SPME of BPA in water was investigated systematically under different extraction conditions. Salt was found to increase the partitioning of BPA from water into the headspace until saturation was reached. Partitioning of BPA from water into the headspace also increased at higher extraction temperatures, as did longer extraction times. However, extraction of BPA from water onto the SPME fiber was not improved for solutions adjusted to pH 2 compared to the unadjusted neutral solutions. The new BPA method showed good linearity over the concentration range of 2.5 to 40 microg/L [correlation coefficient (r2) = 0.995] .The method detection limit for BPA was 0.5 microg/L, while the instrument detection limit was as low as 0.05 microg/L. Good repeatability was observed for BPA at levels of 5 and 20 microg/L with relative standard deviation values < 10%. The automated headspace SPME method developed in this work was used to investigate migration of BPA from polycarbonate bottles into water, and levels of BPA in water ranged from 1.7 to 4.1 microg/L.     

Speciation of dimethylarsinic acid and monomethylarsonic acid by solid-phase microextraction-gas chromatography-ion trap mass spectrometry

A solid-phase microextraction (SPME) method has been developed to determine two methylated arsenic species in human urine samples by GC-MS. The direct extraction of the methyl arsenic compounds by SPME after thioglycol methylate derivatization was studied. Direct extraction with SPME was suitable for the determination of trace levels of dimethylarsinic acid (DMA) and monomethylarsonic acid (MMA) in urine samples. Four different commercial SPME fibers were tested for the extraction of methyl arsenic compounds, and the best results were obtained using the polydimethylsiloxane coating. The extraction and desorption time profiles of DMA and MMA were determined. The detection limits for DMA and MMA using the SPME-GC-MS method were 0.12 and 0.29 ng/ml, respectively. The method is linear in the 1 to 200 ng/ml range.     

Study of the effect of different fiber coatings and extraction conditions on dry cured ham volatile compounds extracted by solid-phase microextraction (SPME)

Extraction of dry cured ham volatile compounds by solid-phase microextraction (SPME) was optimized. Different fiber coatings (carboxen/polydimethylsiloxane (CAR/PDMS), divinylbenzene/carboxen/polydimethylsiloxane (DVB/CAR/PDMS), polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), polydimethylsiloxane/divinylbenzene (PDMS/DVB)), times of extraction (15, 30, 60 min) and sample preparation (ground samples and homogenates with NaCl saturated solution) were assayed. CAR/PDMS and DVB/CAR/PDMS fiber coatings extracted more than 100 volatile compounds and showed the highest area counts for most volatile compounds. CAR/PDMS coating extracted better those compounds whose Kovats index (KI) was lower than 980 (on average) and DVB/CAR/PDMS those with higher KI. Fifteen minutes of extraction provided a volatile compound profile with lower area counts for most compounds and qualitatively different to that obtained with 30 and 60 min of extraction. Homogenates gave a different profile compared to ground samples, with lower total counts for most compounds but higher proportion of aldehydes, and presence of several compounds not found in ground samples.     

Sol-gel-coated oligomers as novel stationary phases for solid-phase microextraction

Amphiphilic and hydrophilic oligomers were synthesized and coated on fused silica capillaries using a sol-gel technique. Sol-gel-coated capillaries were evaluated for the solid-phase microextraction and preconcentration of a wide variety of non-polar and polar analytes. Both types of coatings were stable under high temperature (up to 280 degrees C). The extraction efficiency of the sol-gel coatings was evaluated for the extraction of both non-polar and polar analytes, including organochlorine pesticides, triazine herbicides, estrogens and alkylphenols (APs) and bisphenol-A (BPA). Compared with commercially available solid-phase microextraction (SPME) adsorbents such as poly(dimethylsiloxane)divenylbenzene and polyacrylate, the new materials showed comparable selectivity and sensitivity towards both non-polar and polar analytes. The new coatings gave good linearity and detection limits. For example with triazines, a detection limit of <0.005 microl l(-1), precision from 5.0 to 11.0% (n = 6) and linearity of the calibration plots (0.5 to 50 microl l(-1)) were obtained. The sol-gel coated SPME capillaries were used for the determination of triazine herbicides in reservoir water samples collected in Singapore.     

Utilization of a benzyl functionalized polymeric ionic liquid for the sensitive determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; parabens and alkylphenols in waters using solid-phase microextraction coupled to gas chromatography-flame ionization detection

The functionalized polymeric ionic liquid poly(1-(4-vinylbenzyl)-3-hexadecylimidazolium bis[(trifluoromethyl)sulfonyl]imide (poly(VBHDIm(+)NTf(2)(-))) has been used as successful coating in solid-phase microextraction (SPME) to determine a group of fourteen endocrine disrupting chemicals (ECDs), including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), alkylphenols, and parabens, in several water samples. The performance of the PIL fiber in direct immersion mode SPME followed by gas chromatography (GC) with flame-ionization detection (FID) is characterized with average relative recoveries higher than 96.1% from deionized waters and higher than 76.7% from drinking bottled waters, with precision values (RSD) lower than 13% for deionized waters and lower than 14% for drinking bottled waters (spiked level of 1 ng mL(-1)), when using an extraction time of 60 min with 20 mL of aqueous sample. Detection limits varied between 9 ng L(-1) and 7 ng mL(-1). A group of real water samples, including drinking waters, well waters, and swimming pool waters, have been analyzed under the optimized conditions. A comparison has also been carried out with the commercial SPME coatings: polydimethylsyloxane (PDMS) 30 μm, and polyacrylate (PA) 85 μm. The functionalized PIL fiber (～12 μm) demonstrated to be superior to both commercial fibers for the overall group of analytes studied, in spite of its lower coating thickness. A normalized sensitivity parameter is proposed as a qualitative tool to compare among fiber materials, being higher for the poly(VBHDIm(+)NTf(2)(-)) coating. Furthermore, the partition coefficients of the studied analytes to the coating materials have been determined. A quantitative comparison among the partition coefficients also demonstrates the superior extraction capability of the functionalized PIL sorbent coating.