Novel approach to microwave-assisted extraction and micro-solid-phase extraction from soil using graphite fibers as sorbent

Electrothermaly conditioned carbon fibre for the analysis of volatile pollutants

This study deals with the development of an inexpensive and single-step sorbent manufacturing methodology for the analysis of air pollutants. Disposable carbon fibre sorbents were prepared in a few minutes using the electrothermal conditioning technique. The sorbent conditioning current and time were optimised to obtain the best extraction of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylenes (BTEX) from the air samples. After sorbent characterisation, analysis parameters affecting the BTEX extraction efficiency, such as sampling volume, humidity and sampling flow rate, were optimised for active BTEX sampling. Under optimum conditions, validation parameters such as the limit of detection (LOD), repeatability, reproducibility, and linear range were found to be 0.07-0.11 mg m ^- 3, 1.1%-1.8%, 5.6%-9.5% and 0.24-45 mg m ^- 3, respectively. Thereafter, the BTEX analysis was successfully conducted using the proposed method, with acceptable recovery values (96%-103%) in the real indoor environments.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon contamination in soils and sediments: Sustainable approaches for extraction and remediation

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are carcinogenic environmental pollutants that are extremely hydrophobic in nature and resistant to biological degradation. Extraction of PAHs from environmental matrices is the first and most crucial step in PAH quantification. Extraction followed by quantification is essential to understand the extent of contamination prior to the application of remediation approaches. Due to their non-polar structures, PAHs can be adsorbed tightly to the organic matter in soils and sediments, making them more difficult to be extracted. Extraction of PAHs can be achieved by a variety of methods. Techniques such as supercritical and subcritical fluid extraction, microwave-assisted solvent extraction, plant oil-assisted extraction and some microextraction techniques provide faster PAH extraction using less organic solvents, while providing a more environmentally friendly and safer process with minimum matrix interferences. More recently, more environmentally friendly methods for soil and sediment remediation have been explored. This often involves using natural chemicals, such as biosurfactants, to solubilize PAHs in contaminated soils and sediments to allow subsequent microbial degradation. Vermiremediation and microbial enzyme-mediated remediation are emerging approaches, which require further development. The following summarises the existing literature on traditional PAH extraction and bioremediation methods and contrasts them to newer, more environmentally friendly ways.

Fabrication of ZIF-71/Fe3O4/polythionine nanoarray-functionalized carbon cotton cloth for simultaneous extraction and quantitation of febuxostat and diclofenac

Synthesis of a material based on carbonized cotton cloth/zeolite imidazolate framework was applied to ultrasound-assisted dispersive magnetic solid-phase extraction and high-performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet to detect diclofenac and febuxostat in human plasma.

Sensitive and rapid determination of pyrethroids in human blood by gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry with ultrasound-assisted dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction

In this study, a sensitive and fast procedure of ultrasonic-assisted dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (UADLLME) coupled with gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS) for the determination of major pyrethroid pesticides (permethrin, tetramethrin, bifenthrin, fenvalerate, flucythrinate, fluvalinate, fenpropathrin, deltamethrin, and cyhalothrin) in blood samples was developed. Response surface methodology (RSM) combined with Box-Behnken design (BBD) and ANOVA function was used to optimize key factors affecting the extraction efficiency of UADLLME procedure. Target compounds were analyzed by GC-MS/MS. Under the optimal conditions, good linearity (R2 >0.99) was achieved for all the analytes in the concentration range of 0.5 to 100 μg L-1 . The recoveries for spiked samples at 3 concentration levels were between 70.2 and 91.8%, with relative standard deviations (RSD) lower than 10%. Very low limits of detection (LODs) and limits of quantification (LOQs) ranging from 0.01 to 0.1 μg L-1 and from 0.03 to 0.3 μg L-1 were achieved. This method was successfully applied to the determination of low concentration of pyrethroids in blood samples from real forensic cases. High sensitivity, fast determination, simplicity in operation, small sample volume, and low usage of organic solvents are the advantages of this method. This methodology is of important value for sensitive and quick determination of residue pesticides and metabolites, study of residue pesticides behavior in human body, as well as application in real forensic cases.

Porous membrane protected micro-solid-phase extraction: A review of features, advancements and applications

Membrane protected micro-solid-phase extraction (μ-SPE) was introduced in 2006 as an alternative to multistep SPE. μ-SPE is based on packing of very small amount of sorbent inside the porous membrane sheet whose edges are heat sealed to fabricate a μ-SPE device. This device performs clean up, extraction, and pre-concentration in a single step. It suits best for extraction of complex samples as sorbent is effectively protected inside the membrane and extraneous matter cannot adsorb over it. This review summarizes most important aspects of μ-SPE including basic principles, extraction procedure, different formats, sorbents employed and affecting parameters. The article also provides a brief account on modified μ-SPE procedures where μ-SPE was either combined with other techniques or some major changes were introduced in original procedure. Finally, the applications of μ-SPE in environmental, food and biological analysis are described. At the end, advantages and pitfalls of μ-SPE are critically appraised.

On-line Ultrasound-Assisted Dispersive Micro-Solid-Phase Extraction Based on Amino Bimodal Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles for the Preconcentration and Determination of Cadmium in Human Biological Samples

On-line ultrasound-assisted dispersive micro-solid-phase extraction (USA-DμSPE) has been developed for preconcentration and separation of trace amounts of Cd(II) ions in 0.5 mL of human biological samples. In a syringe with a nylon membrane, new synthetic bulky amino bimodal mesoporous silica nanoparticles (NH2-UVM7) were dispersed as a nanoadsorbent in 5 mL of diluted serum sample (1:10), and after ultrasonic shaking, the liquid phase was separated from the solid phase. At the optimized pH, the chemical and physical adsorption of cadmium ions occurred, respectively, based on complexation with amine groups of UVM7 (Cd:NH2-UVM7) and silica nanoparticles. The analyte was then back-extracted from the sorbent with nitric acid solution (0.2 M), and its concentration was determined by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry (ETAAS). Under the optimized conditions, the linear range, limit of detection (LOD), and preconcentration factor (PF) were obtained as 0.01-0.56 μg L(-1), 0.002 μg L(-1), and 25, respectively. The adsorption capacity of NH2-UVM7 was found to be 108.6 mg g(-1) of cadmium. The validation of the methodology was performed by the human standard reference material (HSRM).

Micro-solid phase extraction of perfluorinated carboxylic acids from human plasma

Micro-solid phase extraction (μ-SPE), with liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry has been developed for the determination of trace levels of perfluorinated carboxylic acids (PFCAs) in human plasma. The μ-SPE sorbent was surfactant-templated mesoporous silica. Extraction time, desorption time and salt concentration were chosen as the most effective parameters and were optimized simultaneously by use of central composite design. Under the optimized extraction conditions, good linearity in the range of 100 and 5000ngL(-1) was obtained with coefficients of determination of between 0.986 and 0.995. The limits of detection (at a signal to noise ratio of 3) were measured to be in the range of between 21.23 and 65.07ngL(-1), and limits of quantification (at a signal to noise ratio of 10) were in the range of between 70.77 and 216.92ngL(-1). The relative recoveries of spiked PFCAs in different samples were in the range of between 87.58 and 102.45%. As expected from the global distribution of PFCs, contaminations at low levels (less than 200ngL(-1)) were detected (with the highest concentration recorded for perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA)). Considering the complex nature of biological samples and the issue of matrix effects in the analysis of PFCAs, μ-SPE as an extraction method was shown to be advantageous; it combined extraction and concentration in one single step with no additional sample clean-up, and was able to remove significant matrix interferences.

Dynamic microwave assisted extraction coupled with dispersive micro-solid-phase extraction of herbicides in soybeans

Non-polar solvent dynamic microwave assisted extraction was firstly applied to the treatment of high-fat soybean samples. In the dispersive micro-solid-phase extraction (D-µ-SPE), the herbicides in the high-fat extract were directly adsorbed on metal-organic frameworks MIL-101(Cr). The effects of several experimental parameters, including extraction solvent, microwave absorption medium, microwave power, volume and flow rate of extraction solvent, amount of MIL-101(Cr), and D-µ-SPE time, were investigated. At the optimal conditions, the limits of detection for the herbicides ranged from 1.56 to 2.00 μg kg(-1). The relative recoveries of the herbicides were in the range of 91.1-106.7%, and relative standard deviations were equal to or lower than 6.7%. The present method was simple, rapid and effective. A large amount of fat was also removed. This method was demonstrated to be suitable for treatment of high-fat samples.

A Novel Extraction-Cleanup Method for Determination of Trace PPCPs in Water Samples

In this contribution, a simple and sensitive extraction-cleanup method which was termed MAE-μ-SPE, was developed for the analysis of pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs) in environmental water samples. The PPCPs included bisphenol A (BPA), diethyl phthalate (DEP), dibutyl phthalate (DBP), di (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), tetracycline (TC), deoxytetracycline (DC), oxytetracycline (OTC) and chloroteracycline (CTC). In this method, the PPCPs in the samples were extracted by microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) following adsorbed by copper (II) isonicotinate in micro-solid phase extraction (μ-SPE) device. The PPCPs were determined by high performance liquid chromatography with ultra-violet detector (HPLC-UV). The procedure of the MAE-μ-SPE was optimized in extraction temperature, extraction time, desorption time and desorption solvent. Analytical performances, such as limits of detection (in the range of 2.0-8.5 μg/L), quantification (in the range of 6.6-28.0 μg/L), and repeatability of the over-all procedure (less than 13%) were established. DEP, DBP, DEHP and TC studied in water samples were ranged from 18.2-68.8 μg L-1, while BPA, OTC, CTC and DC were found all below the detection limit in these samples.

Simultaneous derivatization and extraction of nitrophenols in soil and rain samples using modified hollow-fiber liquid-phase microextraction followed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

A simple and sensitive method based on a modified hollow-fiber liquid-phase microextraction followed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry has been successfully developed for the extraction and simultaneous derivatization of some nitrophenols (NPs) in soil and rain samples. Microwave-assisted solvent extraction was used for the extraction of NPs from the soil, while the rain sample was directly applied to the previously mentioned method. Briefly, in this method, the analytes were extracted from aqueous samples into a thin layer of organic solvent (dodecane + 10% tri-n-octylphosphine oxide) sustained in the pores of a porous hollow fiber. Then, they were back-extracted using a small volume of organic acceptor solution (25 μl; 10 mg/L N-methyl-N-(trimethylsilyl)trifluoroacetamide, as derivatization reagent, in acetonitrile) that was located inside the lumen of the hollow fiber. Under the optimized extraction conditions, enrichment factors of 255 to 280 and limits of detection of 0.1 to 0.2 μg/L (S/N = 3) with dynamic linear ranges of 1-100 μg/L were obtained for the analytes. The accuracy of the approach was tested by the relative recovery experiments on spiked samples, with results ranging from 93 to 113%. The method was shown to be rapid, cost-effective, and potentially interesting for screening purposes.

Microwave assisted extraction combined with solvent bar microextraction for one-step solvent-minimized extraction, cleanup and preconcentration of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in soil samples

For the first time, a novel one-step sample preparation method that combines microwave assisted extraction and solvent bar microextraction (MAE-SBME) with analysis by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), was developed for the fast and efficient determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in environmental soil samples. An interesting feature of the new procedure is that SBME was conducted simultaneously with MAE. Thus, the extract from the SBME could be directly and immediately analyzed by GC-MS. A separate clean up and/or preconcentration process, such as time-consuming and tedious gel permeation chromatography, solid-phase extraction, filtration, or adsorption chromatography, normally associated with conventional MAE, was not necessary. It is also notable that the procedure was environmentally benign since water was used as the extraction solvent in MAE, and only several microliters of organic solvent were used in SBME. Some factors affecting the extraction were studied and optimized. Under the most favorable conditions, the method showed good linearities (between 0.2 and 500, 0.5 and 500, 1 and 500, and 2 and 500 ng/g, depending on the analytes), low limits of detection (from 0.03 to 0.25 ng/g), and satisfactory precision (with relative standard deviations below 9.8%). The MAE-SBME procedure provides a fast and simple sample preparation approach for the processing of environmental soil samples.

Overview on polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons: occurrence, legislation and innovative determination in foods

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are ubiquitous compounds, well-known to be carcinogenic, which can reach the food in different ways. Thus the analysis of such compounds has always been of great importance. The aim of the present review, is not only to give an overview of the most recent sample preparation and analytical approaches (such as pressurized liquid extraction, solid-phase microextraction, supercritical fluid extraction, etc.), but also to introduce such a topic to researchers who want to approach it for the first time; therefore, the most significant references related to general aspects, such as formation, toxicity, risk assessment, occurrence in food, are reported and briefly discussed.