A novel stir bar sorptive extraction coating based on monolithic material for apolar, polar organic compounds and heavy metal ions

In this study, a novel stir bar sorptive extraction (SBSE) based on monolithic material (SBSEM) was prepared. The monolithic material was obtained by in situ copolymerization of vinylpyrrolidone and divinylbenzene in the presence of a porogen solvent containing cyclohexanol and 1-dodecanol with azobisisobutyronitrile as initiator. The influences of polymerization conditions on the extraction efficiencies were investigated, using phenol and p-nitrophenol as detected solutes. The monolithic material was characterized by various techniques, such as elemental analysis, scanning electron microscopy, mercury intrusion porosimetry, infrared spectroscopy. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons were used to investigate the extraction efficiencies of SBSEM for apolar analytes. Hormones, aromatic amines and phenols were selected as test analytes to investigate the extraction efficiencies of SBSEM for weakly and strongly polar compounds. The results showed that the new SBSEM could enrich the above-mentioned organic compounds effectively. It is worthy to mention that the SBSEM can enrich some heavy metal ions, such as Cu²⁺, Pb²⁺, Cr³⁺ and Cd²⁺, through coordination adsorption. To our best knowledge, that is the first to use SBSE to enrich heavy metal ions.     

Preparation of a mixed stir bar for sorptive extraction based on monolithic material for the extraction of quinolones from wastewater

In this study, a novel mixed mode monolithic material was prepared and acted as the SBSE coating. The monolithic material was prepared by in situ copolymerization of methacrylic acid-3-sulfopropyl ester potassium salt (MASE) and divinylbenzene (DB) in the presence of a porogen solvent containing cyclohexanol, 1-dodecanol, and water with azobisisobutyronitrile as initiator. The influences of the contents of the porogen solvent and monomer in the polymerization mixture on the extraction performance were investigated thoroughly. Several characteristic techniques, such as elemental analysis, scanning electron microscopy and infrared spectroscopy were used to characterize the monolithic material. To achieve optimum extraction performance for quinolones, several parameters, including pH value, desorption solvent, ionic strength in sample matrix, extraction and desorption time were investigated. The results show that under the optimized experimental conditions, the method has good sensitivity, linearity, simplicity and low cost. The extraction performance of present method to the target compounds was compared with commercial SBSE which using polydimethylsiloxane as coating and other SBSEs which based on monolithic materials. The comparative results indicate that present SBSE can extract the analytes more effectively than other SBSEs because both ion-exchange and hydrophobic interactions contribute to the extraction of quinolones.     

Development and application of a polar coating for stir bar sorptive extraction of emerging pollutants from environmental water samples

In the present study, a stir bar coated with hydrophilic polymer based on poly(N-vinylpyrrolidone-co-divinylbenzene) was prepared for the sorptive extraction of polar compounds. The main parameters affecting the polymerisation of the coating were investigated.The new stir bar was applied successfully in stir bar sorptive extraction with liquid desorption followed by liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry in tandem with a triple quadrupole for the determination of a group of polar pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) in environmental water matrices. Different variables affecting extraction and desorption such as agitation speed, temperature, ionic strength and extraction time were optimised. The results showed that the stir bar is able to enrich the selected analytes effectively.The developed method was applied to determine a group of PPCPs in different complex environmental samples, including river, effluent and influent waste water.     

Sensitive determination of strongly polar aromatic amines in water samples by stir bar sorptive extraction based on poly(vinylimidazole-divinylbenzene) monolithic material and liquid chromatographic analysis

A simple and sensitive method for the determination of polar aromatic amines (PAAs) was developed using stir bar sorptive extraction (SBSE) coupling to high-performance liquid chromatography. A hydrophilic poly(vinylimidazole-divinylbenzene) (VIDB) monolithic material was prepared and acted as SBSE coating. The influences of polymerization conditions for VIDB on the extraction efficiency were investigated using aniline and 2,4-dinitroaniline as detected solutes. To achieve optimum extraction performance for PAAs, several parameters including extraction and desorption time, desorption solvent, ionic strength and pH value of sample matrix were investigated. The results showed that under the optimized experimental conditions, the method showed good sensitivity and excellent recoveries, as well as advantages such as linearity, simplicity, low cost and high feasibility. The extraction performance of present method to the target compounds also compared with commercial SBSE which using polydimethylsiloxane as coating and other SBSE which based on monolithic materials. Finally, the proposed method was successfully applied to the determination of PAAs in lake and sea waters, and excellent recoveries of spiked target compounds in real samples were obtained.     

Analysis of wine primary aroma compounds by stir bar sorptive extraction

Due to the great importance of some primary aroma compounds on wine quality, these compounds which includes terpenes, C₁₃-norisoprenoids and C₆ compounds, have been analyzed by stir bar sorptive extraction (SBSE) followed by a thermal desorption-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis. The stir bar sorptive extraction method was optimized in terms of temperature, time, pH and NaCl addition. The best SBSE sorption kinetics for the target analytes were obtained after submitting the solutions to 60 °C during 90 min. The addition of sodium chloride did not enhance the volatile extraction. The method proposed showed good linearity over the concentration range tested, with correlation coefficients higher than 0.98 for all the analytes. The reproducibility and repeatability of the method was estimated between 0.22 and 9.11%. The detection and quantification limits of all analytes were lower than their respective olfactory threshold values. The application of this SBSE method revealed that monovarietal white wines were clearly separated by two canonic discriminating functions when grape varieties were used as differentiating variable, the first of which explained 98.4% of the variance. The compounds which contributed most to the differentiation were limonene, linalool, nerolidol and 1-hexanol.     

Analysis of 51 persistent organic pollutants in soil by means of ultrasonic solvent extraction and stir bar sorptive extraction GC-MS

A novel method based on ultrasonic solvent extraction and stir bar sorptive extraction (SBSE) for the analysis of 51 persistent organic pollutants including organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and polybrominated diphenylethers (PBDEs) in soil samples was developed. The different parameters that affect both the extraction of analytes from the soil samples, such as solvent selection, solvent volume, mass of soil, and extraction time, and the partitioning from the solvent/water mixture to the PDMS were studied. The final selected conditions consisted of the extraction of 1 g of soil with 15 mL methanol by sonication for 30 min. The methanol extract was mixed with 85 mL of Milli-Q water and extracted by means of SBSE for 14 h at 900 rpm. The stir bars were analyzed by thermal desorption-GC-mass spectometry (TD-GC-MS). The effects of the matrix on the recovery of the various pollutants under the developed method were studied using two soils with very different physicochemical properties. Method sensitivity, linearity, repeatability, and reproducibility were also studied. Validation and accuracy of the method were conducted by analyzing two commercial certified reference materials (CRMs). The main advantage of this method resides in the fact that a small amount of a nontoxic solvent (methanol) is needed for the extraction of only 1 g of solid sample allowing LODs ranging from 0.01 to 2.0 microg/kg. Repeatability and reproducibility variations were lower than 20% for all investigated compounds. Results of the CRMs verify the high accuracy of this method.     

Development of selective and chemically stable coating for stir bar sorptive extraction by molecularly imprinted technique

A novel stir bar coated with molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) as selective extraction phase for sorptive extraction of triazine herbicides was developed. The stir bar was prepared by chemically bonding the MIP to the glass bar to improve its stability. A homogeneous and porous structure was observed on the stir bar surface. Extraction performance shows that the MIP-coated stir bar has stronger affinity to the template molecule terbuthylazine as compared with that of the reference stir bar without addition of template. Owning to the shape and structural compatibility, the obtained stir bar also demonstrated specific selectivity to the structural related-compounds of nine triazines, and thus can be applied to simultaneous determination of these compounds from complex samples coupled with high performance liquid chromatography. Four complex samples with different matrix, including rice, apple, lettuce and soil were used to evaluate this proposed method. The limits of detection obtained are in the range of 0.04-0.12 μg L⁻¹, and the recoveries for the spiked rice, apple, lettuce and soil samples were 80.8-107.7%, 80.6-107.8%, 72.0-109.8% and 89.0-114.8% with RSD from 1.2 to 7.9%, respectively. Moreover, this MIP-coated stir bar was firm, durable and can be prepared simply and reproducibly. The developed coating method would be useful to prepare a range of selective stir bars in order to extend the applicability of stir bar sorptive extraction (SBSE) in complex sample analysis.     

A new anionic exchange stir bar sorptive extraction coating based on monolithic material for the extraction of inorganic anion

A novel anionic exchange stir bar sorptive extraction (SBSE) coating based on poly(2-(methacryloyloxy)ethyltrimethylammonium chloride-co-divinylbenzene) monolithic material for the extraction of inorganic anion was prepared. The effect of preparation conditions such as ratio of functional monomer to cross-linker, content of porogenic solvent on the extraction efficiencies were investigated in detailed. The monolithic material was characterized by elemental analysis, scanning electron microscopy and infrared spectroscopy. In order to investigate the extraction capacity of the new coating for inorganic anion, the new SBSE was combined with ionic chromatography with conductivity detection, Br⁻, NO₃⁻, PO₄³⁻ and SO₄²⁻ were selected as detected solutes. Several extractive parameters, including pH value and ionic strength in sample matrix, desorption solvent, extraction and desorption time were optimized. The results showed that strongly ionic strength did not favor the extraction of anlaytes. Under the optimum experimental conditions, low detection limits (S/N = 3) and quantification limits (S/N = 10) of the proposed method for the target anions were achieved within the range of 0.92–2.62 and 3.03–9.25 μg/L, respectively. The method also showed good linearity, simplicity, practicality and low cost for the extraction inorganic anions. Finally, the proposed method was successfully used to detect the two different trademarks of commercial purified water with satisfactory recovery in the range of 70.0–92.6%. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first to use SBSE to enrich inorganic anions.     

Development of a stir bar sorptive extraction method for the determination of volatile compounds in orange juices

A stir bar sorptive extraction method for the determination of volatile compounds in orange juices was developed. The extraction variables were optimized using a reduced two‐level factorial screening design (2^5‐1), and the most suitable analytical conditions for the extraction of the studied compounds were: sample volume 10 mL, extraction time 60 min, stirring speed 1800 rpm, NaCl amount 30% (weight/volume), and twister length 10 mm. The optimized method was further validated, obtaining good linearity and detection and quantification limits low enough to correctly determine the studied compounds. As well, for most of the studied compounds precision and recovery values were good. Several orange juice samples (squeezed and commercial) were extracted following the optimized extraction method and analyzed by gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry detection. The method has proven to be suitable for the determination of the aroma of orange juice, of which limonene was the major volatile compound in all the studied samples.     

An alternative method for analysis of food taints using stir bar sorptive extraction

The determination of taints in food products currently can involve the use of several sample extraction techniques, including direct headspace (DHS), steam distillation extraction (SDE) and more recently solid phase microextraction (SPME). Each of these techniques has disadvantages, such as the use of large volumes of solvents (SDE), or limitations in sensitivity (DHS), or have only been applied to date for determination of individual or specific groups of tainting compounds (SPME). The use of stir bar sorptive extraction (SBSE) has been evaluated as a quantitative screening method for unknown tainting compounds in foods. A range of commonly investigated problem compounds, with a range of physical and chemical properties, were examined. The method was optimised to give the best response for the majority of compounds and the performance was evaluated by examining the accuracy, precision, linearity, limits of detection and quantitation and uncertainties for each analyte.For most compounds SBSE gave the lowest limits of detection compared to steam distillation extraction or direct headspace analysis and in general was better than these established techniques. However, for methyl methacrylate and hexanal no response was observed following stir bar extraction under the optimised conditions.The assays were carried out using a single quadrupole GC-MS in scan mode. A comparison of acquisition modes and instrumentation was performed using standards to illustrate the increase in sensitivity possible using more targeted ion monitoring or a more sensitive high resolution mass spectrometer. This comparison illustrated the usefulness of this approach as an alternative to specialised glassware or expensive instrumentation. SBSE in particular offers a ‘greener’ extraction method by a large reduction in the use of organic solvents and also minimises the potential for contamination from external laboratory sources, which is of particular concern for taint analysis.     

Development and validation of stir bar sorptive extraction of polar phenols in water followed by HPLC separation in poly(vinylpyrrolididone‐divinylbenzene) monolith

An effective and simple method for polar phenols in water matrix was developed by using stir bar sorptive extraction (SBSE) based on a hydrophilic poly(vinylpyrrolididone‐divinylbenzene) (VPDB) monolithic material and HPLC analysis. To achieve optimum extraction performance for phenols, several parameters, including extraction and desorption time, desorption solvent, pH value, and ionic strength of sample matrix, were investigated. Under the optimized experimental conditions, eight phenols were directly enriched from water samples and analyzed by HPLC‐DAD. The detection limits (S/N = 3) and quantification limits (S/N = 10) of the proposed method for the target compounds were achieved within the range of 0.72–1.37 and 2.40–4.27 ng/mL from spiked water, respectively. Recoveries of eight phenolic compounds were found in the range of 55.2–95.9%. The calibration curves showed the linearity ranging from 5 to 150 ng/mL with linear regression coefficient R² values above 0.98. Method repeatability presented as intra‐ and interday precisions were also found with the RSDs less than 4.10 and 7.61%, respectively. The distribution coefficients between VPDB and water (K_VPDB/W) for phenolic compounds were also calculated and compared with K_O/W. Finally, the proposed method was successfully applied to the determination of the target compounds in tap water, sea water and wastewater samples.     

Development of a new stir bar sorptive extraction coating and its application for the determination of six pesticides in sugarcane juice

In this article, a novel polydimethylsiloxane/activated carbon (PDMS‐ACB) material is proposed as a new polymeric phase for stir bar sorptive extraction (SBSE). The PDMS‐ACB stir bar, assembled using a simple Teflon^®/glass capillary mold, demonstrated remarkable stability and resistance to organic solvents for more than 150 extractions. The SBSE bar has a diameter of 2.36 mm and a length of 2.2 cm and is prepared to contain 92 μL of polymer coating. This new PDMS‐ACB bar was evaluated for its ability to determine the quantity of pesticides in sugarcane juice samples by performing liquid desorption (LD) in 200 μL of ethyl acetate and analyzing the solvent through gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC‐MS). A fractional factorial design was used to evaluate the main parameters involved in the extraction procedure. Then, a central composite design with a star configuration was used to optimize the significant extraction parameters. The method used demonstrated a limit of quantification (LOQ) of 0.5–40 μg/L, depending on the analyte detected; the amount of recovery varied from 0.18 to 49.50%, and the intraday precision ranged from 0.072 to 8.40%. The method was used in the analysis of real sugarcane juice samples commercially available in local markets.     

Simultaneous analysis of parabens in cosmetic products by stir bar sorptive extraction and liquid chromatography

A sensitive and precise stir bar sorptive extraction (SBSE) combined with LC (SBSE/LC) analysis is described for simultaneous determination of methyl, ethyl, propyl, and butyl parabens in commercial cosmetic products in agreement with the European Union Cosmetics Directive 76/768/EEC. Important factors in the optimization of SBSE efficiency are discussed, such as time and temperature of extraction, pH, and ionic strength of the sample, matrix effects, and liquid desorption conditions by different modes (magnetic stirring, ultrasonic). The LOQs of the SBSE/LC method ranged from 30 to 200 ng/mg, with linear response over a dynamic range, from the LOQ to 2.5 μg/mg, with a coefficient of determination higher than 0.993. The interday precision of the SBSE/LC method presented a coefficient of variation lower than 5%. The effectiveness of the proposed method was proven for analysis of commercial cosmetic products such as body creams, antiperspirant creams, and sunscreens.     

Determination of steroid sex hormones in wastewater by stir bar sorptive extraction based on poly(vinylpyridine-ethylene dimethacrylate) monolithic material and liquid chromatographic analysis

In this study, a simple and rapid method was developed for the determination of seven steroid hormones in wastewater. Sample preparation and analysis were performed by stir bar sorptive extraction (SBSE) based on poly(vinylpyridine-ethylene dimethacrylate) monolithic material (SBSEM) combined with high-performance liquid chromatography with diode array detection. To achieve the optimum extraction performance, several main parameters, including extraction and desorption time, pH value and contents of inorganic salt in the sample matrix, were investigated. Under the optimized experimental conditions, the method showed good linearity and repeatability, as well as advantages such as sensitivity, simplicity, low cost and high feasibility. The extraction performance of SBSEM to the target compounds also compared with commercial SBSE which used polydimethylsiloxane as coating. Finally, the proposed method was successfully applied to the determination of the target compounds in wastewater samples. The recoveries of spiked target compounds in real samples ranged from 48.2% to 110%.     

Analysis of chlorophenols,bisphenol-A, 4-tert-octylphenol and 4-nonylphenols in soil by means of ultrasonic solvent extraction and stir bar sorptive extraction with in situ derivatisation

A novel method based on ultrasonic solvent extraction and stir bar sorptive extraction for the analysis of phenolic organic pollutants including chlorophenols, bisphenol-A, 4-tert-octylphenol and 4-nonylphenol in soil samples was developed. The different parameters that affect both the extraction of analytes from the soil samples, such as solvent selection, extraction time, and the partitioning from the solvent/water mix to poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) were studied. The final selected conditions consisted of the extraction of 1 g of soil with 15 mL methanol by sonication for 30 min. The methanol extract was mixed with 85 mL of Milli-Q water and extracted by means of stir bar sorptive extraction with in situ derivatisation. The stir bars were analyzed by thermal desorption–gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (TD–GC–MS). The effects of the matrix on the recovery of the various pollutants under the developed method were studied using two soils with very different physicochemical properties. Method sensitivity, linearity, repeatability, and reproducibility were also studied. Validation and accuracy of the method were conducted by analyzing two commercial certified reference materials and by comparing the analysis of real samples with the proposed method and a classical method using pressurized solvent extraction (PSE)–GC–MS. The main advantage of this method is a substantial solvent reduction. For the extraction of only 1 g of solid sample allowing limits of detection ranging from 0.2 to 1.7 μg kg⁻¹ dw. Repeatability and reproducibility variation were lower than 20% for all investigated compounds. Results of the certified reference materials and the real samples verify the high accuracy of this method.     

搅拌棒固相萃取的研究进展

作为一种新型的环境友好型样品前处理技术,搅拌棒固相萃取(SBSE)集萃取、净化和富集为一体,已经在环境监测、食品安全和生物分析等领域进行了广泛应用。本文结合作者所在研究小组的研究工作,对近几年来SBSE技术的发展进行综述,重点阐述了各种新涂层的研究和应用,同时就SBSE发展方向提出了展望。     

Development of a carbon‐nanoparticle‐coated stirrer for stir bar sorptive extraction by a simple carbon deposition in flame

Stir bar sorptive extraction is an environmentally friendly microextraction technique based on a stir bar with various sorbents. A commercial stirrer is a good support, but it has not been used in stir bar sorptive extraction due to difficult modification. A stirrer was modified with carbon nanoparticles by a simple carbon deposition process in flame and characterized by scanning electron microscopy and energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectrometry. A three‐dimensional porous coating was formed with carbon nanoparticles. In combination with high‐performance liquid chromatography, the stir bar was evaluated using five polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons as model analytes. Conditions including extraction time and temperature, ionic strength, and desorption solvent were investigated by a factor‐by‐factor optimization method. The established method exhibited good linearity (0.01–10 μg/L) and low limits of quantification (0.01 μg/L). It was applied to detect model analytes in environmental water samples. No analyte was detected in river water, and five analytes were quantified in rain water. The recoveries of five analytes in two samples with spiked at 2 μg/L were in the range of 92.2–106% and 93.4–108%, respectively. The results indicated that the carbon nanoparticle‐coated stirrer was an efficient stir bar for extraction analysis of some polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.     

Simultaneous determination of 64 pesticides in river water by stir bar sorptive extraction and thermal desorption-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

A method for determining 68 pesticides in river water using stir bar sorptive extraction (SBSE)-thermal desorption (TD)-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) is described. SBSE sampling was optimized for sample solution pH, salting-out and methanol addition. Although salting-out enhanced the ability of the method to extract most of the pesticides with low absolute recoveries, the absolute recoveries of four pesticides were not improved by salting-out. The detection limits of the method for the pesticides ranged from 0.2 to 20 ng/l. Analyte recoveries from a river water sample spiked with standards at 10 and 100 ng/l were 58.5–132.0% (RSD: 1.8–15.8%) and 61.0–121.3% (RSD: 1.4–20.2%), respectively.     

Development of a new stir bar sorptive extraction method for the determination of medium‐level volatile thiols in wine

A fast, simple, and reliable analytical method for the determination of medium‐level volatile thiols in wines is presented. Stir bar sorptive extraction using ethylene glycol‐silicone coated stir bars has been used in combination with thermal desorption gas chromatography with mass spectrometry for the analysis of 4‐mercapto‐4‐methylpentan‐2‐one, 2‐furanmethanethiol, 3‐mercaptohexyl acetate, and 3‐mercaptohexanol in wine. Optimization of the extraction technique was performed using a two‐level fractional factorial design. For the extraction step, the optimum conditions were: Ethylene glycol and silicone coated stir bars, pH at 3.5, sample volume of 25 mL, extraction time of 90 min, NaCl content 4.0 g, and stirring speed at 500 rpm. The optimized method achieved good linearity for all studied compounds (r² > 0.995) and it provided detection limits of 21.52, 0.36, 0.73, and 2.55 μg/L for 4‐mercapto‐4‐methylpentan‐2‐one, 2‐furanmethanethiol, 3‐mercaptohexyl acetate, and 3‐mercaptohexanol, respectively. It was repeatable, with precisions lower than 18% relative standard deviation for both intraday and interday repeatability. The developed procedure is suitable for the determination of these kinds of compounds when they are present at medium concentration levels. It was finally applied to real wine samples with negative aroma derived from the high concentration levels of these compounds.     

Novel coatings for stir bar sorptive extraction to determine pharmaceuticals and personal care products in environmental waters by liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry

Two new commercially available polar coatings for stir bar sorptive extraction (SBSE), consisting of polyacrylate (PA) with a proportion of polyethyleneglycol (PEG) (Acrylate Twister^®) and PEG modified silicone (EG Silicone Twister^®), were evaluated and compared with the classic coating based on polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS Twister^®) for the extraction of a group of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) from wastewater samples.