A Robust Cyclofructan-Based Polymer Facilitates High-Effciency In-Tube Solid-Phase-Microextraction of Polycyclic...

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), known for their environmental ubiquity and toxicity even at trace levels, were effectively extracted using a novel tetrafluoroterephthalonitrile-cyclofructan 6 cross-linked polymer (TFN-CF6-CP) coating. This coating was synthesized through in situ cross-linking polymerization of a cross-linking agent with cyclic fructose 6 (CF6) on glass fiber surfaces, subsequently applied in fiber-in-tube solid-phase microextraction (fiber-IT-SPME). The developed method coupled with high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) enabled online PAHs analysis. The TFN-CF6-CP demonstrated superior PAHs adsorption capacity, attributable to its distinctive structural characteristics and multiple interaction mechanisms. Under optimized conditions (70 mL extraction volume, 2.5 mL min^-1 sampling flow rate, 0% acetonitrile content, and 2.0 min desorption time), the online fiber-IT-SPME-HPLC method achieved remarkable performance metrics: Low detection limits from 0.013 to 0.037 µg L^-1, linear ranges of 0.030-10 µg L^-1, and enrichment factors between 895 and 1946. The TFN-CF6-CP exhibits remarkable durability and outstanding reproducibility (RSD ≤ 10.8%). As a result, it is highly suitable for the detection of contaminants in water samples. These findings indicate that the functionalized glass fibers exhibit exceptional adsorption properties, demonstrating significant potential for PAHs pretreatment in diverse aqueous environmental samples.