Polymer-coated fibrous extraction medium for sample preparation coupled to microcolumn liquid-phase separations

Innovative extraction materials for fiber-in-tube solid phase microextraction: A review

Fiber-in-tube solid-phase microextraction (fiber-in-tube SPME) with short capillary longitudinally packed with fine fibers as extraction device allows direct coupling to high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) systems to determine weakly volatile or thermally labile compounds. This technique associates the advantages of miniaturized and analytical on-line systems. Major achievements include the use of different capillaries (fused-silica, copper, stainless steel, polyetheretherketone (PEEK), or poly(tetrafluoroethylene) (PTFE)) that are packed with neat fibers (Zylon®, silk, or Kevlar 29®) or fibers (stainless steel, basalt, or carbon) functionalized with selective coatings (aerogels, ionic liquids (ILs), polymeric ionic liquids (PILs), molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs), layered double hydroxides (LDHs), or conducting polymer). This review outlines the fundamental theory and the innovative extraction materials for fiber-in-tube SPME-HPLC systems and highlights their main applications in environmental and bioanalyses.

Development of on-line monolith-based in-tube solid phase microextraction for the sensitive determination of triazoles in environmental waters

In this work, a convenient and sensitive method for the determination of triazoles in environmental waters was developed by on-line combining in-tube solid phase microextraction (IT-SPME) and high performance liquid chromatography with diode array detector (HPLC-DAD). To extract triazoles effectively, poly (4-vinyl pyridine-co-ethylene dimethacrylate) monolith was in-situ fabricated and utilized as the extraction phase of IT-SPME. A series of key extraction parameters including desorption solvent, sample volume, adsorption and desorption flow rate, pH value and ionic strength in sample matrix were optimized thoroughly. Under the most favorable conditions (volume of sample, 6.0 mL; adsorption flow rate, 0.2 mL/min; desorption solvent, 80.0 µL mixture of ACN/water (70/30, v/v); desorption flow rate, 50.0 µL/min; sample pH value, 8.0; ionic strength did not be adjusted), the developed monolith-based IT-SPME could extract target analytes effectively and expected analytical merits were achieved. The limits of detection (S/N = 3) and limits of quantification (S/N = 10) were in the ranges of 0.014-0.031 µg/L and 0.11-0.074 µg/L, respectively. Satisfactory method reproducibility was obtained by intra-day and inter-day precisions, with relative standard deviations (RSDs) lower than 10%. The optimized IT-SPME-HPLC-DAD method was then applied to detect triadimenol, triazolone and hexaconazole in water samples including lake, river and sewage waters. The spiked recoveries were 78.9-106% and the RSDs were in the range of 0.2-7.2%. The results well evidence that the proposed method is convenient, accurate, sensitive, practical and environmentally friendly for the determination of triazoles in environmental waters.

Preconcentration of Aromatic Compounds in Aqueous Samples with a Polymer-coated Fiber-packed Capillary and Subsequent Temperature-programmed Elution with Water for Pseudo-2D LC Separations

A bundle of polymer-coated filaments was successfully introduced as an extraction medium for the preconcentration of an aqueous solution of aromatic compounds. The extraction was simply carried out with pumping the aqueous sample solution to the extraction capillary at ambient temperature. The extracted analytes were sequentially eluted with a flow of pure water using temperature-programmed heating of the extraction capillary in an oven. The results clearly suggest that the polymer-coated fiber-packed capillary could be employed in the sample preparation process for the analysis of various aqueous samples. Introducing the fractions eluted from the fiber-packed capillary to a conventional microcolumn liquid chromatography (micro-LC) system via a home-made valve-based modulator, an on-line coupled extraction/separation system was developed and a possibility to a pseudo-two-dimensional (pseudo-2D) LC separation of aromatic compounds in aqueous matrices has also been demonstrated.

Strategies for interfacing solid-phase microextraction with liquid chromatography

Solid-phase microextraction (SPME) techniques are equally applicable to both volatile and non-volatile analytes, but the progress in applications to gas-phase separations has outpaced that of liquid-phase separations. The interfacing of SPME to gas chromatographic equipment has been straight-forward, requiring little modification of existing equipment. The requirement of solvent desorption for non-volatile or thermally labile analytes has, however, proven challenging for interfacing SPME with liquid-phase separations. Numerous options to achieve this have been described in the literature over the past decade, with applications in several different areas of analysis. To date, no single strategy or interface device design has proven optimal. During method development analysts must select the most appropriate interfacing technique among the options available. Out of these options three general strategies have emerged: (1) use of a manual injection interface tee; (2) in-tube SPME; and (3) off-line desorption followed by conventional liquid injection. In addition, there has been interest in coupling SPME directly to electrospray ionisation and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionisation (MALDI) for mass spectrometry. Several examples of each of these strategies are reviewed here, and an overview of their use and application is presented.

Fiber-packed needle for dynamic extraction of aromatic compounds

A fiber-packed needle was developed as a novel extraction device for gas-chromatographic analysis of trace organic compounds in aqueous samples. In the extraction device, a bundle of the polymer-coated filaments as the sorbent material was longitudinally packed into a specially designed needle. The extraction was made by pumping the aqueous sample solution into the needle extraction device, and the subsequent desorption process was carried out with a flow of desorption solvent through the needle in a heated gas chromatograph injector. The needle device showed an excellent thermal stability for repeated use without any deterioration of extraction performance, and no carryover effect was observed after the optimization of the desorption conditions. Additionally, the extraction efficiency of the fiber-packed needle could be enhanced by optimizing the number of packed filaments. The selectivity for various compounds could be also tuned using an appropriate combination of the fibrous medium and the coating polymer. The relative standard deviation for run to run was from 3.88 to 4.55% (n = 5), and that for needle to needle was 7.21% (n = 3), clearly suggesting a good repeatability of the needle extraction technique developed. Upon successful optimization of the extraction conditions, a rapid extraction of trace organic compounds from an aqueous sample matrix was successfully demonstrated, where each extraction process was completed within 10 min.

Recent developments in solid-phase microextraction coatings and related techniques

During the last decade, solid-phase microextraction (SPME) has gained widespread acceptance for analyte matrix separation and preconcentration. Relatively few data are currently available dealing with in-house production of fibres with tailor-made properties to be used for SPME, though recently the number of publications evaluating new coatings has been considerably growing. This review, centred on publications that appeared during the last five years, is resuming different approaches which can be used for fibre production and further summarises alternative techniques closely related to SPME, such as in-tube extraction or single-drop microextraction (SDME). The aim is to give the reader a concise overview of recent developments in new coating procedures and materials, including the respective applications.

Surface derivatization of poly(p-phenylene terephthalamide) fiber designed for novel separation and extraction media

The surface derivatization of poly(p-phenylene terephthalamide) fiber was studied. The obtained surface-derivatized filaments were packed into a fused-silica capillary to evaluate its surface characteristics by using GC. As the stationary phase for GC the surface-derivatized fibers showed higher retention for alkanes and alkylbenzenes than that with the untreated Kevlar fiber. The improvements on the retention power and the peak shape were observed on the benzyl-modified fibrous stationary phase. The derivatized fibrous materials were also evaluated as the extraction medium in fiber-in-tube SPE, and the effect of the surface modification on the extraction power was compared to the parent fiber. The results indicated that the modified fiber possessed a higher extraction power than the untreated fiber. Based on the facts, the successful modification of the fiber surface was estimated.

Determination of sterols in biological samples by SPME with on-fiber derivatization and GC/FID

A new procedure for the determination of sterols in serum samples is proposed. The system consists of coating a Solid Phase Microextraction (SPME) microfiber in headspace mode with the derivatizing agent N,O-bis(trimethylsilyl)trifluoracetamide (BSTFA) and then applying this coated fiber to the simultaneous extraction and derivatization of three precursors in the cholesterol biosynthesis pathway (desmosterol, lathosterol and lanosterol) and two phytosterols (sitosterol and sitostanol) in serum samples. Optimization of the analytical procedure via the application of an experimental design, a study of matrix effects, and an analysis of serum pool samples are all described and discussed.

High-temperature separation with polymer-coated fiber in packed capillary gas chromatography

High-temperature gas chromatographic separation of several synthetic polymer mixtures with Dexsil-coated fiber-packed columns was studied. A bundle of heat-resistant filaments, Zylon, was longitudinally packed into a short metal capillary, followed by the conventional coating process with Dexsil 300 material. Prior to the packing process the metal capillary was deactivated by the formation of a silica layer. The typical size of the resulting column was 0.3-mm i.d., 0.5-mm o.d., 1-m length, and packed with about 170 filaments of the Dexsil-coated Zylon. The column temperature could be elevated up to 450 degrees C owing to the good thermal stability of the fiber, Dexsil coating, and metal capillary; furthermore, this allowed the separation of low-volatile compounds to be studied.

Urine sample preparation of tricyclic antidepressants by means of a supported liquid membrane technique for high-performance liquid chromatographic analysis

Supported liquid membrane (SLM) technique for sample work-up and enrichment was used for determination of tricyclic antidepressant drugs in urine by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with UV detection. The studied antidepressant drugs were amitriptyline, opipramol, noxiptyline and additionally diethazine was used as possible internal standard. Alkaline phosphoric buffer with urine sample, as the donor solution, was passed over the liquid membrane into which investigated substances were extracted. On the other side of the membrane, analyzed compounds were trapped due to creating non-extractable form in acidic acceptor solution. Enriched and cleaned up drugs were then injected into a HPLC system with ultraviolet detection to analyze of their concentration in acceptor solution. Optimum extraction efficiency was determined by changing acceptor and donor solutions pH, application of different flow rates of donor solution and by using different solvents in the membrane. Also, donor solution volume, extraction time and concentration of analytes were varied to check the linearity of extraction process. The highest extraction efficiency: 43% for opipramol, 56% for noxiptyline, 43% for amitriptyline and 42% for diethazine (R.S.D. values were <6% and n=3) was achieved when 0.05 M phosphate buffer pH 4.0 and 9.5 were used as donor and acceptor solutions, respectively, n-undecane with 5% tri-n-octylphosphine oxide (TOPO) was used as liquid membrane. Limit of quantification (LOQ) for tricyclic antidepressants after enrichment of 100ml of urine sample was about 1 ng/ml.

Development of miniaturized sample preparation with fibrous extraction media

Introducing fine polymeric filaments as the extraction medium, a miniaturized sample preparation technique for micro-column liquid chromatography (micro-LC) has been developed along with the investigation of a reproducible preparation scheme of the extraction capillary. The polymeric filaments were packed longitudinally into either a fused-silica capillary or a polyether ether ketone (PEEK) capillary of appropriate dimensions, and the extraction capillary was installed to the injection valve in micro-LC system. The number of packed filaments should be precisely counted before the packing process to make sure the reproducible preparation of the extraction capillary. With conventional stationary phase materials for open-tubular gas chromatography, polymeric coating to the surface of the filaments was also studied in order to further enhance the extraction performance and selectivity. Coated with the polymeric material suitable for the extraction of particular analyte, a dramatic improvement on the extraction power was obtained. The results suggest that the future possibility of novel tailored fibrous extraction medium with an appropriate coating on it, especially for the analysis of complex sample matrices.

Polymer-Coated Fibrous Stationary Phases in Packed-Capillary Gas Chromatography

Fibrous synthetic polymers have been introduced as the support material for packed capillaries in gas chromatography. The filaments of the polymers were packed longitudinally into a fused-silica capillary, followed by the conventional coating process for open-tubular capillaries. With various polysiloxane-based polymeric materials coated onto these filaments, it was demonstrated that the retentivity was significantly improved over conventional wall-coated capillaries of the same length and that the selectivity can be tuned by selecting different coating materials chosen for the various purposes. The results clearly showed the contribution of the fibrous support and the polymer-coating to the retention of analytes. They also showed the bright possibility for a novel usage of fine fibrous polymers as the support material, which can be combined with a newly-synthesized coating materials designed for particular separations.

Polymer-Coated Fibrous Materials as the Stationary Phase in Packed Capillary Gas Chromatography

Synthetic polymer filaments have been introduced as the support material in packed capillary gas chromatography (GC). The filaments of the heat-resistant polymers, Zylon, Kevlar, Nomex, and Technora, were longitudinally packed into a short fused-silica capillary, followed by the conventional coating process for open-tubular GC columns. The separation of several test mixtures such as n-alkylbenzenes and n-alkanes was carried out with these polymer-coated fiber-packed capillary columns. With the coating by various polymeric materials on the surface of these filaments, the retentivity was significantly improved over the parent fiber-packed column (without polymer coating) as well as a conventional open-tubular capillary of the same length. The results demonstrated a good combination of Zylon as the support and poly(dimethylsiloxane)-based materials as the coating liquid-phase for the successful GC separation of n-alkanes and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), while successful applications for other separations such as poly(ethylene glycol) coating for the separation of alcohols were also obtained. From the results it has been suggested that the selectivity of the fiber-packed column could be tuned by selecting different coating materials, indicating the promising possibility for a novel usage of fine fibrous polymers as the support material that can be combined with newly synthesized coating materials specially designed for particular separations. Taking advantage of good thermal stability of the fibers, the column temperature could be elevated to higher than 350 degrees C with the combination of a short metallic capillary.

Miniaturized sample preparation combined with liquid phase separations

Miniaturized sample preparation methods designed as the sample pretreatment for liquid phase separations, such as liquid chromatography, capillary electrophoresis and capillary electrochromatography, have been reviewed especially for the on-line coupling of the sample preparation process and the separation process. The development of the desorption interfaces for the effective combining of the sample preparation and subsequent liquid phase separations is briefly described along with the applications of the combined analytical systems to the analysis of complex sample mixtures such as biological and environmental matrices. Novel use of fine polymeric filaments as the extraction medium for microscale liquid phase separation methods are investigated and a comparison is made with other sample preparation techniques. Polymer coating onto the fibrous material is also introduced to further develop microscale sample preparation methods with improved extraction performance. Several other microscale sample preparation methods having a potential compatibility to the liquid phase separations are also described for future applications of these techniques.