Reshaping of pipette tip: A facile and practical strategy for sorbent packing-free solid phase extraction

Area of Science:

• Analytical Chemistry
• Separation Science
• Materials Science

Background:

• Pipette tip-based solid phase extraction (PT-SPE) is user-friendly but prone to sorbent leakage due to filter limitations.
• Existing PT-SPE methods struggle to incorporate high-capacity nanosorbents because their small particle size passes through filters.
• A sorbent packing-free approach is needed for more robust and efficient PT-SPE.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel sorbent packing-free PT-SPE device fabrication strategy.
• To demonstrate the enhanced extraction efficiency and versatility of the new PT-SPE devices.
• To overcome limitations of traditional PT-SPE, including sorbent leakage and nanosorbent incompatibility.

Main Methods:

• Developed a tubing reshaping strategy to create sorbent packing-free PT-SPE devices.
• Fabricated three types of reshaped pipette tips (stretched tube-like, self-crimping, filter in-built) using heating and stretching.
• Demonstrated surface chemical modification and performed solid phase extraction directly within the reshaped pipette tips.

Main Results:

• Reshaped pipette tips (PTs) were successfully fabricated without the need for sorbent packing.
• The new PT-SPE devices exhibited enhanced extraction efficiency compared to conventional PTs.
• Successfully extracted nucleosides from human urine using boronic acid-functionalized reshaped PTs.

Conclusions:

• The tubing reshaping strategy offers a robust and versatile method for fabricating sorbent packing-free PT-SPE devices.
• This approach overcomes sorbent leakage issues and enables the use of advanced nanosorbents.
• The developed PT-SPE scheme provides a new perspective for designing and fabricating efficient SPE devices.