Synthesis of imidazolium ionic liquid immobilized on magnetic mesoporous silica: A sorbent material in a green micro-solid phase extraction of multiclass pesticides in water

Abstract

In this study, we synthesized an imidazolium ionic liquid immobilized on magnetic mesoporous silica (IL-MMS) and evaluated its performance as a sorbent material for a green micro-solid phase extraction (μ-SPE) of multiclass pesticides in water. The synthesized IL-MMS was characterized by various analytical techniques, including Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) and Barrett–Joyner–Halenda (BJH) analyses (N2 adsorption/desorption), Vibrating Sample Magnetometer (VSM), energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). Our synthesized IL-MMS demonstrated excellent magnetic properties (31.5 emu/g), high surface area (1177.4 m2/g), proper pore size (⁓4.2 nm) and volume (1.80 cm3/g). Under optimized extraction conditions, the IL-MMS exhibited a high adsorption capacity for a variety of pesticides, including organophosphates, carbamates, and pyrethroids. The proposed μ-SPE method using IL-MMS showed good linearity (R2 > 0.99), low limits of detection (LODs) ranging from 0.04 to 1.63 ng/L, and suitable recovery rate was between 82.4% and 109.8% for different pesticides. In addition, the method also exhibited excellent reproducibility, with relative standard deviations (RSDs) of less than 8% for both intra and inter-day precision. In overall, the synthesized IL-MMS has proven to be a highly promising material for sorbent-based micro-solid phase extraction (μ-SPE) of multiclass pesticides in water. With its simple, efficient, and eco-friendly approach to pesticide analysis, this method shows great potential for future pesticide detection and monitoring efforts due to its sensitivity, accuracy, and adaptability to various environmental conditions.