Determination of three phenolic compounds in water samples by solid phase extraction with microemulsion liquid chromatography

Abstract

A method for the determination of phenol, bisphenol A (BPA), 2,4-dichlorophenol in water samples based on solid-phase extraction with microemulsion liquid chromatography (MELC) was established. The water sample was acidified, and then cleaned-up by a C18 solid phase extraction cartridge. The separation was carried out on an Inertsil C18 (150 mm x 4.6 mm, 5 microm) with a gradient elution using a microemulsion (consisting of 3.0% sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), 6.0% butyl alcohol, 0.8% n-heptane, 90.2% (water + 0.5% acetic acid)) and acetonitrile as mobile phases at a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min and a detection wavelength of 280 nm. The detection limits (S/N = 3) of phenol, BPA, 2,4-dichlorophenol were 0.74, 8.0, 8.0 microg/L, respectively. Good linearities were achieved for the target compounds over the range of 0.1 - 10 mg/L. The spiked recoveries of three phenolic compounds in blank water samples) were 82.7%, 87.8%, 82.6% for phenol, BPA, 2,4-dichlorophenol respectively. The recoveries of target compounds in real water samples ranged from 85.7% to 113.2%. The developed method is simple, selective, sensitive and applicable for the analysis of environmental water samples.