A selective and efficient microfluidic method-based liquid phase microextraction for the determination of sulfonamides in urine samples

A highly sensitive and selective colorimetric aptasensor for detecting sulfadiazine in river waters based on gold nanoparticles synthesized from discarded Longan seed extract

Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) were extensively employed for in-situ detection sulfadiazine (SDZ) residues, yet current synthesis methods suffer from complex procedures, reagent pollution of the environment, and low particle quality. This study presents a novel synthesis method using discarded longan seed extract as a reducing agent to synthesized high-quality AuNPs, and then can be used for in-situ SDZ detection. Response surface methodology (RSM) was employed to optimize synthesis parameters, which resulted in five optimal combinations that enhanced the flexibility of synthesis. These AuNPs, ranging in size from 18.26 nm to 33.8 nm with zeta potentials from - 29.5 mV to - 14.3 mV, were successfully loaded with functional groups from longan seed extract. In the detection of SDZ, the colorimetric aptasensor demonstrated excellent sensitivity and selectivity over other antibiotics with a limit of detection and quantification at 70.98 ng·mL-1 and 236.59 ng·mL-1 in the concentration range of 200-800 ng·mL-1. Recoveries of spiked SDZ samples ranged from 97.90% to 106.7%, with RSD values below 9.25%. Meanwhile, the aptasensor exhibited exceptional diagnostic efficacy (AUC: 0.976) compared to UV absorption methods in the ROC evaluation. In conclusion, this study highlights the potential of using AuNPs synthesized from longan seed extract coupled with aptamer technology as a straightforward detection method for SDZ in river water, offering promising applications in environmental monitoring.

Preparation of COPs Mixed Matrix Membrane for Sensitive Determination of Six Sulfonamides in Human Urine

In this study, TpDMB-COPs, a specific class of covalent organic polymers (COPs), was synthesized using Schiff-base chemistry and incorporated into a polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) polymer for the first time to prepare COPs mixed matrix membranes (TpDMB-COPs-MMM). A membrane solid-phase extraction (ME) method based on the TpDMB-COPs-MMM was developed to extract trace levels of six sulfonamides from human urine identified by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The key factors affecting the extraction efficiency were investigated. Under the optimum conditions, the proposed method demonstrated an excellent linear relationship in the range of 3.5-25 ng/mL (r2 ≥ 0.9991), with the low limits of detection (LOD) between 1.25 ng/mL and 2.50 ng/mL and the limit of quantification (LOQ) between 3.50 ng/mL and 7.00 ng/mL. Intra-day and inter-day accuracies were below 5.0%. The method's accuracy was assessed by recovery experiments using human urine spiked at three levels (7-14 ng/mL, 10-15 ng/mL, and 16-20 ng/mL). The recoveries ranged from 87.4 to 112.2% with relative standard deviations (RSD) ≤ 8.7%, confirming the applicability of the proposed method. The developed ME method based on TpDMB-COPs-MMM offered advantages, including simple operation, superior extraction affinity, excellent recycling performance, and easy removal and separation from the solution. The prepared TpDMB-COPs-MMM was demonstrated to be a promising adsorbent for ME in the pre-concentration of trace organic compounds from complex matrices, expanding the application of COPs and providing references for other porous materials in sample pre-treatment.

An improved microfluidic device to enhance the enrichment factors in liquid phase microextraction: application to the simultaneous extraction of polar and non-polar acids in biological samples

A new microfluidic device to enhance the enrichment factor in miniaturized systems is proposed. The microfluidic system was design for liquid phase microextractions, and it was applied to the simultaneous extraction of acidic compounds of a wide range of polarity (0.5 < log P < 3). The device operated under stagnant acceptor phase conditions and all the operational parameters involved were optimized. Tributyl phosphate was found to be a new highly efficient supported liquid membrane to simultaneously extract analytes of very different polarities. The optimal donor and acceptor phase were pH 2 and pH 13, respectively. The donor flow rate and the extraction time were investigated simultaneously, offering great versatility with high enrichment factors (EFs). Limits of quantitation were within 0.02 and 0.09 µg mL^-1 for all compounds at 10 µL min^-1 as donor flow rate and 20-min extractions, offering EFs between 11 and 18 with only 200-µL sample volume consumption. The method was successfully applied to human urine samples, observing recoveries between 47 and 90% for all compounds. This new proposed microfluidic system increases the wide range of applications, especially when the analytes are present in lower concentrations in the sample.

Solid supports and supported liquid membranes for different liquid phase microextraction and electromembrane extraction configurations. A review

Liquid phase microextraction (LPME) and electromembrane microextraction (EME) can be considered as two of the most popular techniques in sample treatment today. Both techniques can be configurated as membrane-assisted techniques to carry out the extraction. These supports provide the required geometry and stability on the contact surface between two phases (donor and acceptor) and improve the reproducibility of sample treatment techniques. These solid support pore space, once is filled with organic solvents, act as a selective barrier acting as a supported liquid membrane (SLM). The SLM nature is a fundamental parameter, and its selection is critical to carry out successful extractions. There are numerous SLMs that have been successfully employed in a wide variety of application fields. The latter is due to the specificity of the selected organic solvents, which allows the extraction of compounds of a very different nature. In the last decade, solid supports and SLM have evolved towards "green" and environmentally friendly materials and solvents. In this review, solid supports implemented in LPME and EME will be discussed and summarized, as well as their applications. Moreover, the advances and modifications of the solid supports and the SLMs to improve the extraction efficiencies, recoveries and enrichment factors are discussed. Hollow fiber and flat membranes, including microfluidic systems, will be considered depending on the technique, configuration, or device used.

Investigation of Nafion coated GO-ZnO nanocomposite behaviour for sulfamethoxazole detection using cyclic voltammetry

The electrochemical behavior of sulfamethoxazole (SMX) was investigated on the surface of the glassy carbon electrode with Nafion coated GO, ZnO, GO-ZnO nanocomposites using cyclic voltammetry (CV). The results of voltammetric studies exhibited a considerable increase in background current on SMX detection at nafion coated GO-ZnO nanocomposite GC electrodes. However, the adopted fabrication procedure for GC electrodes was reported previously but only difference is nafion was drop casted over the fabricated nanocomposite electrode. In order to investigate the electrochemical performance behavior of GO/GCE, ZnO/GCE, GO-ZnO/GCE, variation on ZnO amounts with Nafion coated and uncoated GO/GC electrodes were involved and it was analyzed using cyclic voltammetry in 5 mM K₂FeCN₆ using 0.1 M KCl solution electrolyte medium. In GO-ZnO/GC electrode, peak currents got reduced when compared with GO/GC electrode but their potential voltage difference (peak-to-peak) separation was increased. Similar results was observed for nafion coated GO-ZnO/GC electrode. On comparing the electrochemical process, the importance of nafion coated GO-ZnO nanocomposites were studied and proceeded with optimized amounts of modifier on the electrode surface for SMX detection. Thus Nf/GO-ZnO with different ZnO ratios performance showed significant response on determining SMX, resulting to progress as electrode sensor for health-care applications.

Microfluidic liquid-phase microextraction based on natural deep eutectic solvents immobilized in agarose membranes

In liquid-phase microextraction (LPME), the sample and the acceptor are separated by a synthetic organic solvent, which is immobilized in a porous polymeric membrane of polypropylene or polyvinylidene fluoride. The organic solvent serves as extraction phase, while the polymeric membrane serves as support membrane. The combination of extraction phase and support membrane is termed supported liquid membrane (SLM). In this paper, we developed for the first time fully green and biodegradable supported SLMs, based on natural deep eutectic solvents as extraction phase and agarose as support membrane. This highly green approach was developed and studied with sulfonamide pharmaceuticals as model analytes, and performance was compared with LPME using conventional SLMs. All experiments were conducted in a microfluidic device. Model analytes were extracted from acidic sample (pH1.0) and into alkaline acceptor (pH12.0). Both sample and acceptor were pumped at 1 μL min^-1 into the microfluidic device, and the optimal SLM was based on 3 µL of coumarin and thymol (1:2 molar ratio) as the extraction phase. The proposed green microfluidic device was successfully applied for the determination of sulfonamides in urine samples with spiking recoveries in the range of 77-100%. LPME with deep eutectic solvent immobilized in agarose showed similar performance as with conventional SLMs. Thus, the data presented in this paper demonstrate that highly green microextraction systems may be developed in the future, based on natural solvents and biodegradable materials.