Carbon monolith: preparation, characterization and application as microextraction fiber

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Analytical Chemistry
• Environmental Science

Background:

• Solid-phase microextraction (SPME) is a widely used technique for analyzing environmental pollutants.
• Traditional SPME fibers often face limitations in extraction efficiency and equilibrium time.
• Development of advanced materials for SPME is crucial for improving analytical performance.

Purpose of the Study:

• To synthesize and characterize a novel carbon monolith material for use as an SPME fiber.
• To evaluate the performance of the carbon monolith fiber for the extraction of phenolic compounds.
• To compare the efficiency of the carbon monolith fiber with commercially available SPME fibers.

Main Methods:

• Synthesis of a carbon monolith using styrene and divinylbenzene precursors with dodecanol as a porogen.
• Characterization of the monolith's bimodal porous structure.
• Application of the carbon monolith as an extracting fiber in SPME for phenol analysis.
• Quantification of phenols using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS).

Main Results:

• The synthesized carbon monolith exhibited a bimodal porous substructure with interconnected pores.
• The carbon monolith fiber demonstrated linear calibration curves for phenols from 0.5 to 50 ng mL(-1).
• Low limits of detection (0.04–0.43 ng mL(-1)) and high recoveries (85–98%) were achieved for phenols in real water samples.
• The carbon monolith fiber showed faster extraction equilibrium and higher extraction capacity than commercial SPME fibers.

Conclusions:

• The developed carbon monolith-based SPME fiber is a promising alternative to conventional fibers for efficient extraction of phenols.
• The unique bimodal porous structure contributes to enhanced extraction performance.
• This material offers a viable solution for sensitive and rapid analysis of phenolic pollutants in environmental samples.