γ-Al2O3-graphene oxide absorbent material for detection of nucleosides in urine

Abstract

γ-Al2O3 nanoparticle-bonded graphene oxide (γ-Al2O3-GO) was prepared for use as a solid phase extraction absorbent and for preconcentration of four nucleosides in human urine samples for investigation by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) were employed to characterize the absorbent. Several parameters (eluent species, absorbent amount, sample volume, and sample pH) were optimized, and the absorption efficiency was determined based on equilibrium absorbent amounts. Under optimal conditions, the γ-Al2O3-GO absorbent displayed enhanced absorbent ability for nucleosides. The calibration curve showed good linearities in the range of 0.10-10 mg/L for cytidine, inosine, and guanosine, and 0.05-10 mg/L for uridine; the correlation coefficient was observed to be in the range of 0.9967-0.9973. The limits of detection for the four nucleosides were in the range of 0.010-0.021 mg/L. Intra-day and inter-day relative standard deviations were 0.1%-0.8% and 1.0%-3.1%, respectively. The recoveries of the four nucleosides in urine samples ranged from 71.3% to 107.4%, and the relative standard deviations (n=3) were less than 4.8%. The results demonstrated that the proposed method is faster, more sensitive, and more efficient. Therefore, solid phase extraction (SPE)-based γ-Al2O3-GO can be considered more suitable for the determination and enrichment of nucleosides in urine samples.