Ionic liquid-functionalized mesoporous multipod silica for simultaneously effective extraction of aflatoxin B₁ and...

Aflatoxin B₁ (AFB₁) and its precursors contaminate food and agricultural products, posing a significant risk to food safety and human health, but simultaneous and effective extraction and determination of AFB₁ and its precursors with varied structures is still a challenging task.

In this study, a bisimidazolium-type ionic liquid functionalized mesoporous multipod silica (SiO₂@mPMO-IL(im)₂) was fabricated to extract AFB₁ and its two precursors, i.e., averantin and sterigmatocystin. The SiO₂@mPMO-IL(im)₂ could simultaneously extract three targets with varied structures based on the multipods, mesopores, and multifunctional groups. The density functional theory calculations further verified the multiple interactions between SiO₂@mPMO-IL(im)₂ and targets. The fabricated SiO₂@mPMO-IL(im)₂ could effectively extract and determine three targets in grains by combing with dispersive solid-phase extraction and high-performance liquid chromatography. Good linearity (r² > 0.9978), low LODs (0.9-1.5 μg kg^-1) and LOQs (3.0-4.5 μg kg^-1), satisfactory spiked recoveries (92.5%-106.8%) and high precisions (RSD<6.4%) were observed.

This work demonstrates the feasibility of SiO₂@mPMO-IL(im)₂ for simultaneous and effective extraction of toxins with varied structures and provides a promising sample preparation for the analysis of AFB₁ and its precursors in grain samples.