Salicylic acid determination in estuarine and riverine waters using hollow fiber liquid-phase microextraction and capillary zone electrophoresis

A low-cost methodology using hollow fiber liquid-phase microextraction (HF-LPME) and capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) with UV-Vis detector was developed to analyze the salicylic acid (SA) in estuarine and riverine waters. The technique is easy-to-use and rapid, and demands little volume of organic solvent. The extraction was carried out using a polypropylene membrane supporting into octan-1-ol. HF-LPME under optimized conditions (donor solution sample pH 2, acceptor solution pH 14, sample volume 25 mL, fiber length 10 cm, acceptor volume 25 μL, extraction time 3 h and stirring speed 350 rpm) presented high enrichment factor (407 times) and good recovery in real water samples (from 88 to 110%). A limit of detection of 2.6 μg L^-1 was achieved using CZE with UV-Vis detector as quantification method. The method was applied to direct quantification of SA in environmental complex estuarine and riverine water matrices.

Highly-sensitive electrocatalytic determination for toxic phenols based on coupled cMWCNT/cyclodextrin edge-functionalized graphene composite

Highly-sensitive electrocatalytic determination of toxic phenol compounds is of significance in environmental monitoring due to their low degradation and high toxicity to the environment and humans. In this paper, a rapid and sensitive electrochemical sensor based on coupled carboxyl-multi-walled carbon nanotube (cMWCNT) and cyclodextrin (CD) edge-functionalized graphene composite was successfully employed towards trace detection of three typical phenols (4-aminophenol, 4-AP; 4-chlorophenol, 4-CP; 4-nitrophenol, 4-NP). The morphology studies from scanning electron microscope and transmission electron microscope analysis revealed that cMWCNTs as conductive bridges were successfully incorporated into CD edge-functionalized graphene layers. Further, The electrocatalytic detection performance of the 3D simultaneously reduced and self-assembled sensing architecture (GN-CD-cMWCNT) with trace amounts of CDs was evaluated. The electrochemical studies demonstrated that GN-CD-cMWCNT displays excellent electrocatalytic activity, high sensitivity and stability. Under optimal conditions, the current responses of 4-AP, 4-CP and 4-NP are linear to concentrations over two different ranges, with low detection limit of 0.019, 0.017 and 0.027μM (S/N=3), respectively. And, GN-CD-cMWCNT shows an excellent anti-interference ability against electroactive species and metal ions. In addition, validation of the applicability of the presented sensor was also performed for the determination of three phenols in tap water sample with satisfactory results.