Preparation of functional magnetic porous organic polymer as sorbent for mercury speciation followed by HPLC-ICP-MS analysis

A novel sulfur-containing functional core-shell magnetic porous organic polymer (Fe3O4@BD-TpMA-S-SH MOP) was synthesized as a magnetic solid-phase extraction (MSPE) sorbent for mercury speciation followed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)-inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) detection. The prepared Fe3O4@BD-TpMA-S-SH MOP possessed rich active adsorption sites (S: 25 wt%), high magnetism (39.2 emu g(-1)) and high adsorption capacity (636, 656, 649 and 366 mg g(-1) for Hg2+, methylmercury (MeHg+), ethylmercury (EtHg+) and phenylmercury (PhHg+), respectively). Under the optimal conditions, the limit of detection (LOD) of the developed MSPE-HPLC-ICP-MS method was 0.43, 0.55, 0.69 and 1.1 ng L-1 for Hg2+, MeHg+, EtHg+ and PhHg+, respectively, with a high enrichment factor (EF) in the range of 346-383-fold. The accuracy of the method was validated, and it was successfully applied for trace/ultratrace mercury speciation in environmental water and fish samples. The developed method has high sensitivity, low LOD, high EF, fast adsorption/desorption dynamics and good matrix resistance ability, showing great applicability in real sample analysis with complex sample matrices.

Automated summary

A novel Fe3O4@BD-TpMA-S-SH MOP was synthesized as a magnetic solid-phase extraction sorbent for mercury speciation, displaying high sensitivity, low LOD, high EF, fast adsorption/desorption kinetics, and successful application in trace mercury speciation in environmental water and fish samples.