Covalent triazine-based frameworks for efficient solid-phase microextraction of phthalic acid esters from...

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Analytical Chemistry
• Environmental Science

Background:

• Phthalic acid esters (PAEs) are endocrine-disrupting compounds with significant health concerns.
• Efficient preconcentration of PAEs from complex matrices like food-contacted plastics remains a challenge.
• Development of advanced materials for selective pollutant extraction is crucial for environmental monitoring.

Purpose of the Study:

• To synthesize novel covalent triazine-based frameworks (CTFs) for enhanced extraction of PAEs.
• To develop a solid-phase microextraction (SPME) method utilizing CTFs as coatings for PAE analysis.
• To evaluate the performance of the developed SPME method in terms of enrichment factors, detection limits, and accuracy.

Main Methods:

• Three CTFs were synthesized via Friedel-Crafts reactions using cyanuric chloride (CC) and triptycene (TPC), fluorene (FL), or 1,3,5-triphenylbenzene (TPB).
• The synthesized CTFs were utilized as coatings for SPME fibers.
• The CC-TPC based SPME method was applied for the extraction and preconcentration of PAEs from relevant samples.

Main Results:

• The CC-TPC based SPME method demonstrated high enrichment factors ranging from 978 to 2210.
• Low limits of detection (0.027–0.10 ng g⁻¹) were achieved for PAEs.
• Satisfactory linear ranges (0.09–20 ng g⁻¹), good repeatabilities (4.3–9.6%), and high relative recoveries (92.0–104.6%) were obtained.

Conclusions:

• The synthesized CTFs, particularly CC-TPC, are effective materials for PAE preconcentration.
• The developed CTF-based SPME method offers a sensitive and efficient approach for analyzing PAEs in complex matrices.
• This advancement contributes to improved monitoring of PAEs in food-contacted materials and environmental samples.