Peanut shell-derived biochar materials for effective solid-phase microextraction of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons...

Area of Science:

• Environmental Chemistry
• Analytical Chemistry
• Materials Science

Background:

• Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) are significant environmental pollutants.
• Effective methods for PAH detection in water are crucial for environmental safety.
• Developing sustainable and cost-effective analytical tools is an ongoing challenge.

Purpose of the Study:

• To fabricate a novel, low-cost biochar-based solid-phase microextraction (SPME) fiber from waste peanut shells.
• To investigate the adsorption capability of the biochar material for environmental applications.
• To develop and validate a headspace SPME (HS-SPME) method using the novel fiber for analyzing PAHs in environmental water samples.

Main Methods:

• Biochar fabrication from waste peanut shells.
• Characterization of the biochar coating using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Raman spectroscopy.
• Development of a headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) method.
• Analysis of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS).

Main Results:

• The biochar coating exhibited a homogeneous porous structure with graphite components.
• The developed HS-SPME-GC-MS method demonstrated good intra-fiber repeatability (RSDs 6.93–10.86%) and inter-fiber reproducibility (RSDs 5.61–13.59%).
• Low limits of detection (1.09–2.46 ng/L) and quantification (3.62–8.20 ng/L) were achieved for six target PAHs, with a satisfactory linear range (10–2000 ng/L).
• Spiked recoveries ranged from 81% to 116% in real water samples (river and pond water).

Conclusions:

• Waste peanut shell-derived biochar is a promising, low-cost material for fabricating efficient SPME fibers.
• The developed HS-SPME-GC-MS method is reliable and effective for the trace analysis of PAHs in environmental water.
• This approach offers a sustainable alternative for environmental monitoring of PAHs.