Development of new polar monolithic coatings for stir bar sorptive extraction

Polar vinyl monomers have been used for the synthesis of several polymer monoliths, to serve as novel coatings for stir bar sorptive extraction; the monovinyl monomers 2‐hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) and poly(ethylene glycol) monomethacrylate) (PEGMA) were copolymerized with (apolar) divinylbenzene (DVB) and/or pentaerythritol triacrylate (PETRA), both of which are cross‐linking agents. After the optimization of the most important synthesis parameters, which included the ratio between total monomers and porogen, the nature of the porogen, and the monomer ratios, inter alia, three mechanically stable, polar monolithic coatings for stir bar sorptive extraction were obtained that were based on poly(HEMA‐co‐DVB), poly(HEMA‐co‐PETRA), and poly(PEGMA‐co‐PETRA). Thereafter, and in order to evaluate the hydrophilicity of the resulting monoliths, they were applied as materials in the stir bar sorptive extraction of a group of emerging pollutants with a wide range of polarities. The results showed that both the poly(HEMA‐co‐DVB) and poly(PEGMA‐co‐PETRA) materials could be used to extract both polar and nonpolar compounds by stir bar sorptive extraction, in an effective manner. Taking into account the desired chemical and morphological properties, as well as the extraction efficiencies, the poly(PEGMA‐co‐PETRA) material seemed to be a particularly promising monolith for application as a novel coating in stir bar sorptive extraction.     

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.     

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.     

Development of a stir bar sorptive extraction and thermal desorption-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry method for determining synthetic musks in water samples

This study presents the development of an analytical method for determining 9 synthetic musks in water matrices. The developed method is based on stir bar sorptive extraction (SBSE), coated with polydimethylsiloxane, and coupled with a thermal desorption–gas chromatography–mass spectrometry system (TD–GC–MS). SBSE can efficiently trap and desorb the analytes providing low limits of detection (between 0.02 ng L⁻¹ and 0.3 ng L⁻¹). Method validation showed good linearity, repeatability and reproducibility for all compounds. Furthermore, the limited manipulation of the sample required in this method implies a significant decrease of the risk of external contamination of the samples. The performance of the method in real samples was evaluated by analysing biological wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) influent and effluent samples, reverse osmosis treatment plant effluents and river waters. The most abundant musk was galaxolide with values up to 2069 ng L⁻¹ and 1432 ng L⁻¹ in the influent and effluent of urban WWTP samples, respectively. Cashmeran, Pantolide and Tonalide were also detected in all the matrices with values up to 94 ng L⁻¹, 26 ng L⁻¹ and 88 ng L⁻¹, respectively. Although in Europe the use of nitromusks in cosmetics is prohibited, musk xylene and musk ketone were detected both in the WWTP and in the river samples. As far as we know, this is the first time than a SBSE method coupled with TD is applied for the determination of synthetic musks in water samples.     

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.     

Determination of 4-nonylphenol and 4-tert.-octylphenol in water samples by stir bar sorptive extraction and thermal desorption-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

A simple and highly sensitive method called thermal desorption (TD)-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), which is used for the determination of trace amounts of 4-nonylphenol (NP) and 4-tert.-octylphenol (OP) in water samples, is described. NP and OP in samples are extracted from water samples and concentrated by the stir bar sorptive extraction (SBSE) technique. A stir bar coated with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) is added to a 2.0 ml water sample and stirring is carried out for 60 min at room temperature (25 °C) in a headspace vial. Then the extract is high sensitively analyzed by TD-GC-MS without any derivatization step. The optimum SBSE conditions are realized at an extraction time of 60 min. The detection limits are 0.02 ng ml⁻¹ for NP and 0.002 ng ml⁻¹ for OP. The method shows good linearity over the concentration range of 0.1-10 ng ml⁻¹ for NP and 0.01-10 ng ml⁻¹ for OP, and the correlation coefficients are higher than 0.999. The average recoveries of NP and OP are higher than 97% (R.S.D.: 3.6-6.2%) with correction using the added surrogate standards, 4-(1-methyl) octylphenol-d₅ and deuterium 4-tert.-octylphenol. This simple, accurate, sensitive and selective analytical method may be used in the determination of trace amounts of NP and OP in tap and river water samples.     

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.     

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。     

基于整体材料搅拌棒固相萃取高效液相色谱联用测定饲料和水样中硝基呋喃类药物残留

利用自制的以聚(乙烯基咪唑-二乙烯基苯)(VIDB)整体材料为涂层的固相萃取搅拌棒(VIDB-SBSE)萃取3种硝基呋喃类药物,然后与高效液相色谱-二极管阵列检测器联用建立了测定饲料和水样品中硝基呋喃类药物残留的方法。详细考察了萃取过程中萃取和解吸时间、样品基质的pH值以及离子强度等实验条件对萃取效率的影响。在最佳条件下,呋喃唑酮的线性范围为0.5~200μg/L,呋喃妥因和呋喃西林的线性范围为0.25~200μg/L,3种目标物的检出限(LO D)(S/N=3)在0.068~0.11μg/L之间,所建方法具有理想的日内和日间重现性(R SD值均小于6%)。在对饲料和实际水样的测定中,不同加标浓度呋喃唑酮、呋喃妥因和呋喃西林的回收率在80.6%~108%之间。研究表明,所建立的方法具有简便、灵敏、环境友好等特点。     

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.     

Stir bar sorptive extraction coupled to liquid chromatography for the analysis of strobilurin fungicides in fruit samples

A stir bar microextraction (SBSE) procedure for the determination of seven strobilurin fungicides in fruit samples using liquid chromatography (LC) and diode array detection (DAD) has been developed. The samples were sonicated in the presence of ethanol before submitting the extracts to SBSE. The incorporation of drazoxolon as an internal standard before SBSE allowed calibration without the need to use the standard additions method. Under the optimized conditions, detection limits were in the 0.3–2 ng g⁻¹ range, corresponding to trifloxystrobin and metominostrobin, respectively. The SBSE–LC–DAD procedure showed good repeatability (RSD below 11% in all cases) and provided recoveries of 80–105% from spiked samples. The method was applied to fifteen fruit samples, and low levels of pyraclostrobin and trifloxystrobin were found in two of them.     

分子印迹聚合物为涂层的吸附萃取搅拌棒在环境水样双酚A含量测定中的应用

以双酚A(BPA)为单体,利用整体材料“原位”聚合技术制备以分子印迹聚合物为涂层的吸附萃取搅拌棒(MIP-SBSE),然后与高效液相色谱(HPLC)-二极管阵列检测器联用,探讨其对环境水样BPA的选择萃取性能。优化萃取过程中吸附和解吸时间、解吸液种类以及基底pH值和离子强度对目标化合物的选择吸附性能。在最佳条件下,MIP-SBSE可对模板分子进行有效的选择吸附,线性范围为1.0～200 μg/L,检出限(S/N=3)和定量限(S/N=10)分别为0.28μg/L和0.94 μg/L。在实际水样分析中,具有良好的加标回收率,其值为96.0%～108.7%。研究结果表明,所建立的方法具有简便、灵敏和环境友好等特点。     

分子印迹固相萃取搅拌棒的制备及对复杂样品中双烯雌酚和己烷雌酚的萃取性能

以己烯雌酚为替代模板,利用整体材料的“原位”合成技术制备了分子印迹聚合物,并将其作为固相萃取搅拌棒的涂层(MIP-SBSE)制备了新的搅拌棒。详细考察了分子印迹聚合物制备条件中模板分子及功能单体用量对MIP-SBSE选择性萃取性能的影响,同时利用元素分析、扫描电镜和红外光谱对聚合物进行表征。以双烯雌酚(DS)和己烷雌酚(HS)为目标化合物,将MIP-SBSE与高效液相色谱-二极管阵列检测器联用,建立起复杂样品中DS和HS的分离分析方法。考察了吸附和解吸时间、解吸溶剂、离子强度和样品pH值等萃取条件对MIP-SBSE选择性萃取性能的影响。结果表明,在最佳萃取条件下,MIP-SBSE对DS和HS具有较高的选择性萃取性能,线性范围分别为1.0～400.0 μg/L和5.0～400.0 μg/L,利用氮吹再定容的方法,对DS和HS的检出限(S/N=3)分别可低至0.04和0.14 μg/L。在对实际污水、蜂蜜和牛尿样品的分析中取得了良好的加标回收率,其值为61.3%～120%。所建方法具有简便、高选择性和灵敏等特点,可用于复杂样品中双烯雌酚和己烷雌酚的分析监测。     

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.     

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 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.     

Stir bar sorptive extraction with in situ derivatization and thermal desorption-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry for determination of chlorophenols in water and body fluid samples

A new method, stir bar sorptive extraction (SBSE) with in situ derivatization and thermal desorption (TD)-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), which is used for the determination of trace amounts of chlorophenols, such as 2,4-dichlorophenol (2,4-DCP), 2,4,6-trichlorophenol (2,4,6-TrCP), 2,3,4,6-tetrachlorophenol (2,3,4,6-TeCP) and pentachlorophenol (PCP), in tap water, river water and human urine samples, is described. The derivatization conditions with acetic acid anhydride and the SBSE conditions such as extraction time are investigated. Then, the stir bar is subjected to TD followed by GC-MS. The detection limits of the chlorophenols in tap water, river water and human urine samples are 1-2, 1-2, and 10-20 pg ml⁻¹ (ppt), respectively. The calibration curves for the chlorophenols are linear and have correlation coefficients higher than 0.99. The average recoveries of the chlorophenols in all the samples are higher than 95% (R.S.D. < 10%) with correction using added surrogate standards, 2,4-dichlorophenol-d₅, 2,4,6-trichlorophenol-¹³C₆, 2,3,4,6-tetrachlorophenol-¹³C₆ and pentachlorophenol-¹³C₆. This simple, accurate, sensitive and selective analytical method may be applicable to the determination of trace amounts of chlorophenols in liquid samples.     

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.     

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.     

Determination of parabens in house dust by pressurised hot water extraction followed by stir bar sorptive extraction and thermal desorption-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

This study describes the development of a new method for determining p-hydroxybenzoic esters (parabens) in house dust. This optimised method was based on the pressurised hot water extraction (PHWE) of house dust, followed by the acetylation of the extracted parabens, stir bar sorptive extraction (SBSE) with a polydimethylsiloxane stir bar, and finally analysis using thermal desorption-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (TD-GC-MS). The combination of SBSE and PHWE allows the analytes to be preconcentrated and extracted from the aqueous extract in a single step with minimal manipulation of the sample. Furthermore the in situ acetylation of parabens prior to SBSE improved their extraction efficiency and their GC-MS signal. The method showed recoveries of between 40 and 80%, good linearity, repeatability and reproducibility (<10% RSD, at 100 ng g(-1), n=5), low limits of detection (from 1.0 ng g(-1) for propyl paraben to 2.1 ng g(-1) for methyl paraben) and quantification (from 3.3 ng g(-1) for propyl paraben to 8.5 ng g(-1) for methyl paraben). The proposed method was applied to the analysis of house dust samples. All the target parabens were found in the samples. Methyl and propyl parabens were the most abundant, with concentrations up to 2440 ng g(-1) and 910 ng g(-1), respectively. The high levels of parabens found in the samples confirm the importance of determining organic contaminants in indoor environments.