Development of a Solid-phase microextraction (SPME) Fiber protector and its application in flammable liquid residues analysis

Solid-phase microextraction (SPME) has been established as a very powerful alternative to traditional extraction methods since its introduction in the early 1990s. The heart of the SPME device is an expensive thin and very delicate fused-silica fiber, coated with a thin polymer film. When extracted, the fiber may bend and break. Due to the fragility of the SPME fiber, a fiber protector device is proposed. The protector is easily assembled on the SPME device and can easily be removed by unscrewing for sampling to the injector. The SPME with the fiber protector was tested by headspace-SPME (HS-SPME) gasoline and diesel fuel vapor analyses. The results of the extractions with the SPME protector were compared with the results of the extractions by SPME without the protector. An enhancement to the lighter hydrocarbons was observed in the results with the protector but the method sensitivity was not altered. The SPME protector was easily cleaned from contaminant residues by ethyl acetate washings. The protector can be used for years and the fibers remain intact for hundreds of samplings. (c) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.