Enrichment behavior of electrospun PVDF nanofiber membranes for simultaneous spectrophotometric determination of mixed organic acids in water

Abstract

Electrospun nanofiber membranes (ENMs) of polyvinylidene fluoride which is known as solid phase extraction materials were fabricated through electrospinning technology. Different electrospinning conditions including polymer content, spinning voltage and flow rate were investigated. The optimal operation conditions for electrospun process were set at 12% of PVDF mass fraction, 12 kV of spinning voltage, 0.5 mL h−1 of flow rate, 15 cm of receiving distance, 22 °C of spinning temperature and 45% of environmental humidity. The self-made ENMs were introduced into a combined method of radial electric focusing solid phase extraction enrichment, ultrasonic elution, UV-Vis detection and PLS calculation for determining benzoic acid, phthalic acid and p-toluene sulfonic acid in aqueous samples simultaneously. The calculation results of unknown sample show that the concentrations of benzoic acid, phthalic acid and p-toluene sulfonic acid were 4.416 mg L−1, 4.976 mg L−1 and 5.27 mg L−1, respectively. The relative standard deviation values of each component are all less than 2% with a relative recovery of 84–119%. The ENMs illustrate their fascinating application prospects in determining trace complex materials in aqueous samples.