Magnetic retrieval of graphene: Extraction of sulfonamide antibiotics from environmental water samples

A new technique of retrieving graphene from aqueous dispersion was proposed in the present study. Two-dimensional planar graphene sheets were immobilized onto silica-coated magnetic microspheres by simple adsorption. The graphene sheets were used as adsorbent material to extract six sulfonamide antibiotics (SAs) from water samples. After extraction, they were conveniently separated from the aqueous dispersion by an external magnetic field. Under the optimal conditions, a rapid and effective determination of SAs in environmental water samples was achieved. The limits of detection for six SAs ranged from 0.09 to 0.16 ng/mL. Good reproducibility was obtained. The relative standard deviations of intra- and inter-day analysis were less than 10.7% and 9.8%, respectively. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.