Basalt fibers functionalized with gold nanoparticles for in-tube solid-phase microextraction

Basalt fibers were functionalized with gold nanoparticles and characterized by scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. An in-tube solid-phase microextraction device was developed by packing the functionalized basalt fibers in a polyether ether ketone tube. The device was connected into high performance liquid chromatography equipment with a diode array detector to build online enrichment and analysis system. Eight polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons were used as model analytes, important factors including sampling rate, sampling volume, organic solvent content in sample, and desorption time were investigated. Linear range (0.01-20 μg/L), detection limits (0.003-0.015 μg/L), and enrichment factors (130-1628) were given by the online analysis method. Relative standard deviations (n = 5) of extraction repeatability on one tube and tube-to-tube repeatability were less than 5.2 and 14.7%, respectively. The analysis method was applied to detect polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in environmental water samples, and relative recoveries ranged from 87 to 128%.