Magnetic solid-phase extraction based on [60]fullerene functionalization of magnetic nanoparticles for the determination of sixteen polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in tea samples

Abstract

[60]Fullerene functionalized magnetic nanoparticles (Fe3O4@SiO2@C60) were prepared and characterized by transmission electron microscope, vibrating sample magnetometer and infrared spectroscopy. The Fe3O4@SiO2@C60 was then applied for the magnetic solid-phase extraction of 16 priority pollutants polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in tea samples. The analyses were performed on gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) using selected ion monitoring (SIM) mode. Parameters affecting the extraction, including sorbent amount, desorption solvent, salt concentration, pH and extraction time were investigated. Under optimized conditions, the developed method based on Fe3O4@SiO2@C60 gave detection limits of 0.8–14.3 ng L−1, and quantification limits of 2.6–47.6 ng L−1 for 16 PAHs, respectively. The spiked recoveries of the target PAHs in tea samples ranged from 92.4% to 106.9%. The intra-day and inter-day relative standard deviations (RSDs) were lower than 8.7% and 10.6%, respectively. These results demonstrated that the established method could be applied to the analysis of PAHs at trace level in tea samples.