Preparation and Evaluation of a Novel Solid-Phase Microextraction Fiber Based on Functionalized Nanoporous Silica Coating for Extraction of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons From Water Samples Followed by GC–MS Detection

Abstract

In this work, nanoporous phenyltrimethoxysilane functionalized silica (PTMS-SBA-15) was introduced as a novel fiber coating for solid-phase microextraction (SPME) in combination with gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS). Characterization of the synthesized nanoporous material was accomplished using N2 sorption, scanning electron microscopy and thermogravimetric analysis. The proposed fiber showed high affinity for the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) with a much higher extraction efficiency, in comparison with a commercial PDMS fiber. As a simple and fast statistical method, the simplex strategy was utilized for optimization of parameters such as sample volume, ionic strength, temperature and time of extraction and agitation time, which affected the extraction efficiency. The calibration curves were linear in a concentration range of 0.01–100 ng mL−1 (R 2 > 0.990) with limits of detection lying between 5.1 and 37.2 pg mL−1. The single-fiber repeatability and fiber-to-fiber reproducibility for extraction of studied PAHs spiked to deionized water (10 ng mL−1) were less than 8.5 and 11.3 %, respectively. The extraction efficiency of the new SPME fiber was not significantly changed in the process of thermal treatments and after 70 extractions. The proposed fiber was satisfactorily applied to the determination of PAH compounds in real water samples.