Magnetic nanoparticles with hydrophobicity and hydrophilicity for solid-phase extraction of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from environmental water samples.

Magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) featured with divinylbenzene (DVB) and sulfonate functionalities (Fe3O4-DVB-SO3(-)) were prepared via "thiol-ene" click chemistry. The hydrophobic DVB moieties were dedicated for extraction while the hydrophilic sulfonate groups were designed for dispersing the MNPs in aqueous sample solution. Thus, the specially designed material could ensure operational convenience and improve reproducibility during extraction. The application of the material was demonstrated by the extraction of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from environmental water samples followed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometric analysis. The main factors influencing the extraction, including the type of the desorption solvent, the agitation mode, the amount of MNPs, extraction and desorption time and salt addition in sample solution, were investigated in detail. Under the optimized conditions, the proposed method showed satisfactory reproducibility with intra-day and inter-day relative standard deviations less than 16.5% and 21.2%, and low limits of detection of 1.1pgmL(-1), 0.8pgmL(-1), 1.1pgmL(-1), 1.4pgmL(-1), 0.6pgmL(-1), 2.1pgmL(-1) and 0.7pgmL(-1) for naphthalene, acenaphthene, fluorine, phenanthrene, anthracene, fluoranthene and pyrene, respectively. The developed method was also successfully used for determination of the PAHs in genuine lake and river environmental water samples by standard addition method. All the studied PAHs were detected in these waters with comparable results by the standard liquid-liquid extraction method. The developed MNPs with dual property of hydrophobicity and hydrophilicity were suitable for the treatment of water samples. The magnetic solid phase extraction based on this material was reliable and convenient. It has great potential in the preconcentration of trace analytes in complex matrix.

Magnetic solid-phase extraction based on methylcellulose coated-Fe3O4-SiO2-phenyl for HPLC-DAD analysis of sildenafil and its metabolite in biological samples.

In the present study, magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) with phenyl functionalized core and a hydrophilic methylcellulose coating were synthesized. The functionalized MNPs showed excellent dispersibility in aqueous solution and they were applied to magnetic solid phase extraction (MSPE) of sildenafil and its metabolite, desmethyl sildenafil, from human urine and plasma samples followed by high performance liquid chromatographic analysis. The factors that may influence the extraction, including the amount of MNPs, pH and salt concentration of sample solution, extraction and desorption time, and the volume of desorption solvent, were investigated in detail. Under the optimum MSPE conditions, the developed method showed satisfactory reproducibility with intra-day and inter-day relative standard deviations less than 8.2% and low limits of detection of 0.41-0.96 ng mL(-1) from urine and plasma samples. The proposed material possessed good water compatibility and demonstrated excellent applicability for biological samples.

C12-Ag wire as solid-phase microextraction fiber for determination of benzophenone ultraviolet filters in river water.

In the present study, a novel approach for fabrication of solid-phase microextraction (SPME) fiber based on silver wire was proposed. 3-(Mercaptopropyl) trimethoxysilane (MPTS) was self-assembled on the silver wire by the special interaction between Ag and S, producing MPTS-Ag wire. The MPTS-Ag wire was then functionalized with dodecyltrimethoxysilane via sol-gel approach, giving C12-Ag wire. The preparation conditions were systematically optimized. The prepared fiber was then used as the SPME fiber to extract three benzophenone UV filters from the river water. The developed method showed good linearity between 0.005 and 0.200 µg mL(-1) with regression determination coefficients in the range of 0.9929-0.9988 and detection limits ranging from 0.58 to 1.86 ng mL(-1). The C12-Ag fiber exhibited good stability and long lifetime, and could be an alternative to the traditional fused silica fiber.

Determination of sildenafil, vardenafil and aildenafil in human plasma by dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction-back extraction based on ionic liquid and high performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet detection.

A novel method which involved dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (DLLME)-back extraction based on ionic liquid (IL) was developed for the determination of three phosphodiesterase-5 (PDE-5) inhibitors, sildenafil (SD), vardenafil (VD) and aildenafil (AD), in human plasma. DLLME based on IL as the extractant solvent and methanol as the dispersive solvent was the first step to extract PDE-5 inhibitors from sample solution; the other step of back extraction was followed by transferring target analytes from the IL to acidified aqueous solution. This two-step extraction ensured the compatibility of the final extractant phase, acidified aqueous solution herein, with the reversed phase high performance liquid chromatography-UV detection, and afforded clean extractant phase. The optimal extraction condition was obtained after systematical optimization. The sample solution (960µL) was extracted by 20µL of 1-octyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate in the presence of 20µL methanol and 300mgmL(-1) NaCl with the assistance of vortex; IL phase enriched with the target analytes was then extracted by 10% acetic acid aqueous solution. Good linearity ranges (SD 1-500ngmL(-1), VD 2-2000ngmL(-1) and AD 2-2000ngmL(-1)) with suitable r(2) (=0.9999) were achieved. Limits of detection (LODs) in pure water were 0.15ngmL(-1), 0.30ngmL(-1) and 0.43ngmL(-1) for VD, SD and AD, respectively. Intra-day and inter-day relative standard deviations were below 6.38%. Finally, this method was applied for the determination of PDE-5 inhibitors in human plasma with satisfactory LODs of 0.92ngmL(-1), 1.19ngmL(-1) and 2.69ngmL(-1) for VD, SD and AD, respectively. Acceptable absolute recoveries were obtained from 100.4% to 103.9%. The developed method afforded a convenient, fast and cost-saving operation with high extraction efficiency for the test analytes. It has potential to be applicable to biological samples.