Frits coated with nano-structured conducting copolymer for solid-phase extraction of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons...

A novel nano-structured conducting copolymer of pyrrole and o-toluidine was electrosynthesized on steel frit as a new sorbent. The applicability of the frit was assessed for the solid-phase extraction (SPE) of Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) by coupling with HPLC-UV. The combination of pyrrole and o-toluidine in a copolymer form presents desirable opportunities to produce materials for new applications. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and FTIR spectrum for the coated frit were studied. Improved lifetime and satisfactory extraction efficiency were obtained by doping with dodecylbenzenesulfonate (DBS) and oxalate groups into the framework of copolymer. The effects of potential, time and solution concentration (pyrrole, o-toluidine, DBS and oxalic acid) were evaluated in the coating step. The effects of various parameters on the efficiency of the solid-phase extraction process, such as the sample loading rate, elution solvent type, salt effect, volume and flow rate of sample and elution solvent, were investigated. Under optimum conditions, LODs were 0.01-0.08 ng mL(-1). The method showed linearity in the range of 0.1-300 ng mL(-1) with coefficients of determination >0.98. The intra-day (n=7) RSDs obtained at an 8 ng mL(-1) concentration level were <11.4% under optimized conditions respectively. The recoveries (8 and 40 ng mL(-1)) ranged from 64% to 119%.