Magnetic dispersive solid phase extraction based on carbonized cellulose–ferromagnetic nanocomposite for screening phthalate esters in aqueous samples

Abstract

In this work, a sorbent of the carbonized cellulose–ferromagnetic nanocomposite has been proposed for the magnetic dispersive solid phase extraction of some plasticizers in aqueous samples. Carbonized cellulose nanoparticles were prepared by treatment of cellulose filter paper with concentrated sulfuric acid and then loaded on Fe3O4 nanoparticles using coprecipitation. This sorbent is compatible with aqueous samples and can be considered as a viable sorbent for extraction of plasticizers from aqueous samples. In this study, magnetic dispersive solid phase extraction is followed by a dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction method. This combination makes the proposed approach as an efficient clean–up method with high enrichment factors for the selected analytes. The enriched analytes are monitored by gas chromatography equipped with a flame ionization detector. Parameters affecting the method efficiency were investigated in details. Under the optimized extraction conditions, limits of detection could reach up to of 0.15–0.50 µg L−1. The satisfactory enrichment factors of 286–403 were obtained, and the extraction recoveries were found to be in the range of 57–80%. Relative standard deviations were in the range of 3–7% for intra–day and inter–day precisions for six replicate extractions at 25 µg L−1 of each plasticizer. Calibration curves were linear in wide ranges with coefficients of determination ≥ 0.995. Eventually, efficiency of the prepared sorbent was confirmed by the extraction of some plasticizers from real samples including fruit juices, mineral water, injection solution, cola, and yoghourt drink packed in plastic containers.