Nitrogen-doped porous biochar derived from marine algae for efficient solid-phase microextraction of chlorobenzenes from aqueous solution

Nitrogen-doped porous biochar (NPB) with a large specific surface area, wide pore size distribution, graphitized structure, nitrogen doping, and hydrophobicity was fabricated by high-temperature modification of algal biochar with potassium carbonate. This NPB was then uniformly coated on stainless steel wire as a novel solid-phase microextraction (SPME) fiber. The extraction efficiency of NPB-coated fiber for seven chlorobenzenes (CBs) was excellent; it was 1.0-112.2 times higher than that of commercial SPME fibers. A trace determination method was developed for seven CBs in water with the optimized extraction conditions by NPB-coated fiber and gas chromatography-electron capture detector, which showed wide linear ranges (1-1000 ng L-1), low detection limits (0.007-0.079 ng L-1), great repeatability (2.5-6.5% for intra-day, and 3.1-6.8% for inter-day), and excellent reproducibility (3.5-6.3%, n = 5). The practicality of the developed method was evaluated using real water samples and showed great recoveries (89.55-105.19%). This study showed that low-cost biomass wastes could be converted to advanced biochar materials by a facile method, and displayed excellent performance in SPME applications.

Automated summary

Nitrogen-doped porous biochar was prepared by high-temperature modification of algal biochar with potassium carbonate, showing excellent extraction efficiency for seven chlorobenzenes when used as a novel solid-phase microextraction fiber. This method demonstrated wide linear ranges, low detection limits, and great reproducibility, making it a practical and cost-effective approach for trace determination of CBs in water samples.