Comparative study of molecularly imprinted polymer surface modified magnetic silica aerogel, zeolite Y, and MIL-101(Cr) for dispersive solid phase extraction of fuel ether oxygenates in drinking water

Abstract

The study was performed in two phases. First, the polymerization was carried out upon three magnetized surfaces of silica aerogel, zeolite Y, and MIL-101(Cr). Then, optimal molecularly imprinted polymer and optimal extraction conditions were determined by the central composite design-response surface method. Subsequently, the validation parameters of dispersive solid-phase extraction based optimal molecularly imprinted polymer were examined for the extraction of the fuel ether oxygenates. The optimal conditions include the type of adsorbent: Zeolite-magnetic molecularly imprinted polymer, the amount of adsorbent: 40 mg, pH: 7.7, and absorption time: 24.8 min which was selected with desirability equal to 0.996. The calibration graphs were linear between 1 and 100 μg L−1, with good correlation coefficients. The limits of detection were found to be 0.64, 0. 4, and 0.34 μg L−1 for methyl tert-butyl ether, ethyl tert-butyl ether, and tert butyl formate, respectively. The method proved reliable for analyzing fuel ether oxygenates in drinking water.