A hyper-cross linked polymer as an adsorbent for the extraction of chlorophenols

Facile fabrication of hydroxyl-functionalized hypercrosslinked polymer for sensitive determination of chlorophenols

Three hydroxyl-functionalized hypercrosslinked polymers (HCP-POL, HCP-HQ and HCP-PG) were synthesized by Friedel-Crafts reaction. The HCP-HQ displayed the largest surface area and highest adsorption capacity for chlorophenols (CPs). Thus, the HCP-HQ was further modified with magnetism to obtain M-HCP-HQ. An efficient magnetic solid-phase extraction method with M-HCP-HQ as adsorbent was developed for the first time to simultaneously extract four CPs from water and honey samples before analysis by high performance liquid chromatography-diode array detection. Under optimized conditions, the low detection limits (S/N = 3) were obtained to be 0.06-0.10 ng mL^-1 for water and 0.80-1.75 ng g^-1 for honey. The method recovery was 80.7%-119%, with relative standard deviations below 9.5%. The enrichment factors of the CPs were in the range of 57-220. The extraction mechanism could be attributed to the strong polar interaction, hydrogen bonding and π-π interactions between the M-HCP-HQ and CPs. The M-HCP-HQ based method can be served as a reliable and sensitive tool for detection CPs in water and honey samples.

Fabrication of carbonyl-functional hypercrosslinked polymers as solid-phase extraction sorbent for enrichment of chlorophenols from water, honey and beverage samples

Three carbonyl-functional novel hypercrosslinked polymers (HCP-TPS, HCP-TPA, and HCP-TPP) were successfully fabricated through an one-step Friedel-Crafts acylation reaction by copolymerizing paraphthaloyl chloride with triphenylsilane, triphenylamine, and triphenylphosphine, respectively. The resultant HCPs contained plenty of carbonyl-functional groups. Among the series of such HCPs, HCP-TPS displayed the best adsorption capability to chlorophenols (CPs), and thus it was employed as solid-phase extraction (SPE) adsorbent for enrichment of chlorophenols from water, honey, and white peach beverage prior to determination by high-performance liquid chromatography. Under the optimal conditions, the detection limits of the method (S/N = 3) were 0.15-0.3 ng mL^-1 for tap water and leak water, 2.5-6.0 ng g^-1 for honey sample and 0.4-0.6 ng mL^-1 for white peach beverage sample. The recoveries of CPs in the spiked water, honey samples, and white peach beverage were in the range of 89.0-108.4%, 81.4-118.2%, and 85.0-113.5%, respectively. This work provides a new strategy for constructing functionalized HCPs as efficient SPE adsorbents. In this work, three novel hypercrosslinked polymers (HCPs) were synthesized by the Friedel-Crafts alkylation reaction (paraphthaloyl chloride as the alkylating agent, triphenylsilane, triphenylamine, and triphenylphosphine as the aromatic units). Then, HCP-TPS was applied to soild-phase extraction sorbent for enrichment CPs from water, honey, and white peach beverage samples.

Construction of imine-linked covalent organic framework as advanced adsorbent for the sensitive determination of chlorophenols

Food safety is a great concern of the general public. Chlorophenols (CPs) as organic pollutant can be found in drinking water and foods, causing serious harm to human health. Herein, imine-linked covalent organic frameworks (COFs), named as TAPT-AN-COF, was synthesized by aniline modulation strategy through condensation of 1,3,5-triformylphoroglucinol and 4,4',4''-(1,3,5-Triazine-2,4,6-triyl)trianiline with aniline as modulator. The prepared TAPT-AN-COF possesses good crystallinity and regular morphology, displaying excellent adsorption capability towards CPs pollutants. Thus, the TAPT-AN-COF was used as novel adsorbent for off-line solid-phase extraction of four CPs (2-CP, 3-CP, 2,3-CPs, 2,4-CPs) from bottled water, tea drink and honey samples before high performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet detection. Under optimal conditions, wide linear range, low detection limits and satisfactory extraction recovery were gained. The π-stacking and hydrophobic interactions between the TAPT-AN-COF and the analytes played an important role in the adsorption. The established method has a great potential in determining other hydrophobic aromatic compounds.

[Synthesis and application progress of covalent organic polymers in sample preparation for food safety analysis]

Food safety is closely related to human health and life. Contaminated foods may result in illness or poisoning. For example, perfluorinated compounds can concentrate in the human body, or they can be transferred to the baby during breastfeeding, thus leading to serious health risks. Phthalate esters may cause damage to the liver, lungs, and kidneys. Therefore, food safety has become a hot topic at a global level. Poisonous and harmful substances in foods are derived from the environment, planting or breeding, food contacting materials, and food processing, or due to unsuitable storage conditions. Residues of pesticides and veterinary drugs, organic pollutants, additives, heavy metals, and biotoxins often hamper food safety, causing diseases or even death. The diversity of available food species, complexity of the sample matrix, and lack of information about the source of pollutants render the direct determination of food contaminants difficult. Pretreatment is vital for the accurate analysis of trace toxins in foods. Optimal pretreatment can not only improve the extract efficiency and determination sensitivity, but also prevent instrument contamination. Pretreatment techniques have played an important role in trace determination for complex matrices. Pretreatment methods can be classified as solvent-based and adsorption-based methods. Adsorption-based techniques such as solid-phase extraction, magnetic solid-phase extraction, and solid-phase microextraction are simple and efficient, and hence, are widely used. In these pretreatment techniques, adsorbents play a key role in the extraction effect. In the last few years, metal organic frameworks, metal oxide materials, carbon nanotubes, graphene, and magnetic nanoparticles, as well as a combination of these materials, have been used as adsorbents. These materials are porous and have a large surface area; they are used to enrich trace targets and eliminate interferents. Covalent organic polymers (COPs) are a class of organic porous materials constructed from organic monomers via covalent bonding. Given their excellent characteristics such as light density, good stability, high surface area, structural controllability, and ease of modification, COPs are potential adsorbents. COPs are often synthesized by solvent thermal methods. However, these methods are time-consuming and require toxic solvents and harsh reaction conditions. As alternatives, room-temperature methods, mechanical chemical methods, microwave-assisted methods, and UV-assisted methods have been developed. This has facilitated the synthesis of a wide range of COPs. In this article, the recent applications of COPs in sample pretreatment for food safety analysis are reviewed. COPs can be used in solid-phase extraction by simple packing into columns, polymerization, or chemical bonding in the capillary. Magnetic compounds have been prepared by one-pot synthesis, in situ growth, in situ reduction, or coprecipitation methods and used in magnetic solid-phase extraction. Coatings of solid-phase microextraction fibers are fabricated by physical methods, chemical bonding, sol-gel methods, or in situ growth. Toxic and harmful substances in foods and foodstuffs are efficiently extracted by exploiting the high adsorbent capacities and specificity of COPs. Future development prospects and challenges in sample pretreatment are also discussed herein. There is increased focus on the development of simple, efficient, and environment-friendly methods to synthesize COPs with specific functions; further, high-throughput, sensitive analytical methods may be established. In the future, more specific COPs will be prepared in a cost-effective manner for widespread use in sample pretreatment.

Bio-photoelectrochemcial system constructed with BiVO4/RGO photocathode for 2,4-dichlorophenol degradation: BiVO4/RGO optimization, degradation performance and mechanism

A single-chamber bio-photoelectrochemical system (BPES) constructed with BiVO₄/reduced graphene oxide (RGO) photocathode was proposed for 2,4-dichlorophenol (2,4-DCP) degradation under simulated solar irradiation. The BiVO₄/RGO (B/G) composites were synthesized, optimized and characterized by various techniques to analyze their physico-chemical and photocatalytic properties. Results showed that B/G (5 wt% - 9 h - 150 °C) exhibited the best photocatalytic activity for 2,4-DCP degradation, which was 1.5 times of that of BiVO₄, due to its better light absorption, faster electrons transfer, and more efficient photo-generated e^- - h⁺ separation. Reactive species trapping experiments revealed that ·OH was the main radical leading to 2,4-DCP degradation, and h⁺ also influenced 2,4-DCP removal. The 2,4-DCP (20 mg/L) removal rate and current output from the illuminated BPES were much higher than those of the unilluminated reactor (68.5 % vs. 41.8 %, 60.31 A/m³ vs. 40.07 A/m³) in 24 h, and the cathode potential was more negative, indicating that photocathode catalytic process was favorable to pollutants degradation and energy generation. Intermediates of 2,4-DCP degradation in the BPES were identified, and accordingly, possible degradation pathway and mechanism were proposed. This research advanced the development of efficient photocathode and mechanism of recalcitrant wastewater treatment in the BPES.

Layered porous organic frameworks as a novel adsorbent for the solid phase extraction of chlorophenols prior to their determination by HPLC-DAD

A layered porous organic framework (L-POF) with high surface area and porous volume was used as a novel adsorbent for adsorption of chlorophenols (CPs). The L-POF showed much higher adsorption capacity for four CPs (2-CP, 3-CP, 2,3-CP, 2,4-CP) compared with corresponding amorphous POF and some commercial adsorbents. Then, an L-POF-based solid-phase extraction method combined with high-performance liquid chromatography for analyzing CPs at the wavelength of 280 nm in water and honey samples was established. Under the optimum conditions, four CPs exhibited good linearity in the range 0.10-80.0 ng mL^-1 for water and 2-400 ng g^-1 for honey samples with determination coefficient r² > 0.996. The method has low limits of detection of 0.03-0.10 ng mL^-1 for water and 0.5-1.0 ng g^-1 for honey samples. The method presented satisfactory precision and accuracy with relative standard deviations ≤ 7.8% and recoveries of 80-115%. High enrichment factors of 123-190 for water and 63-97 for honey were obtained. The validated method was successfully used to determine CPs in water and honey samples. The L-POF also displayed prominent adsorption performance for many other dyes and organic contaminants. This suggests that it can be an ideal candidate as adsorbent for wide application in separation and analysis. Graphical Abstract.

Preparation of a Magnetic Nanoporous Polymer for the Fast and Efficient Extraction of 5-Nitroimidazoles in Milk

A magnetic nanoporous organic polymer (M-NOP) was prepared as a new adsorbent with excellent extraction capacity and rapid adsorption kinetics for 5-nitroimidazoles (5-NDZs). Hence, a rapid and effective method was proposed for determination of 5-NDZs in milk by combining M-NOP-based magnetic solid-phase extraction with high-performance liquid chromatography. Main extraction conditions were investigated. Under optimal conditions, good linear response was achieved in a range of 2.4-100 ng mL^-1 with a lower detection limit of 0.8-1.0 ng mL^-1. High accuracy with a recovery of 80.0-116.0% for the fortified samples, good repeatability with relative standard deviation below 10%, and a high enrichment factor of 97-111 were obtained. The rapid adsorption of 5-NDZs on M-NOP is mainly driven by H-bonding, π-stacking, and polar interactions. Finally, the M-NOP-based method was successfully used to determine 5-NDZs in milk samples. The M-NOP is expected to present promising application in the extraction and quantitative analysis of other compounds.

An amino-functionalized ordered mesoporous polymer as a fiber coating for solid phase microextraction of phenols prior to GC-MS analysis

An amino-functionalized ordered mesoporous polymer (OMP-NH₂) was synthesized and applied as a fiber coating for solid phase microextraction of polar phenols from environmental samples. The fiber coating was prepared by loading the OMP-NH₂ powder onto a stainless steel wire through silicone gel. Combined with GC-MS, the fibers were employed to quantify trace of phenols in water through headspace-SPME. The characterization showed the OMP-NH₂ to have a large specific surface area (420 m² g^-1) and good thermal stability (>400 °C). Due to its mesoporous structure and favorable interactions via hydrogen bonding and π stacking interactions with phenols, the sorbent represents a promising candidate for the separation and enrichment of polar phenols. Extraction conditions, such as temperature, extraction time, salt concentration, pH value and desorption time, were fully optimized. Under the optimized conditions, the coating exhibits an enrichment effect that is ~2-10 times better than that of a commercial polyacrylate coating. Figures of merit include (a) low limits of detection (0.05-0.16 ng L^-1), (b) wide linear ranges (0.2-10,000 ng L^-1), and (c) high enrichment factors (510-2272). The relative standard deviations for one fiber and fiber-to-fiber were in the range of 4.0-6.1% and 4.6-7.4%, respectively. The method was applied to the determination of phenols in water samples and gave satisfactory recoveries between 85.4 and 112.2%. Graphical abstract An amino-functionalized ordered mesoporous polymer (OMP-NH₂) was synthesized by a solventless method and applied as headspace solid phase microextraction (HS-SPME) fiber coating for the extraction of polar phenols from the environmental samples.