A chitin-based magnetic hyper-cross-linked polymer for highly efficient enrichment of neonicotinoids in lemon juice and tomatoes

Abstract

A chitin-based magnetic hyper-cross-linked polymer (labeled as Ch-MHCP) has been successfully synthesized and utilized for highly-effective solid-phase extraction of neonicotinoid insecticides (NEOs). The extraction capability of Ch-MHCP for four common NEOs is higher than that of four commercial sorbents including octadecyl-silane C18, oasis hydrophilic/lipophilic balanced sorbent, oasis mixed anion sorbent and poly-phenylacetic mixed anion sorbent. The large number of hydroxyl and amide groups as well as benzene rings in Ch-MHCP allow the H-bond and π-π* interaction to be the principal adsorption mechanism of Ch-MHCP for NEOs. Besides, polar interaction was also involved in the adsorption process. In combination of Ch-MHCP based extraction technique with high-performance liquid chromatography, a novel analytical method for sensitive detection of NEOs in lemon juice and tomatoes has been established. At optimal conditions, wide linear ranges were obtained to be 0.20–100 ng mL−1 for lemon juice and 0.80–1000 ng g−1 for tomatoes. The detection limits were 0.06–0.12 ng mL−1 for lemon juice and 0.24–0.60 ng g−1 for tomatoes. This work not only provides a powerful tool for simultaneously detecting four NEOs in lemon juice and tomatoes, but also offers a new insight into the preparation of bio-based magnetic sorbents for adsorption/removal of pollutants.