Determination of phthalate esters in water samples using Nylon6 nanofibers mat-based solid-phase extraction coupled to liquid chromatography

A new method was developed for simultaneous determination of five phthalate esters by a combination of mat-based solid-phase extraction (SPE) with high-performance liquid chromatography. The mat is composed of Nylon6 nanofibers. Dimethyl phthalate (DMP), diethl phthalate (DEP), di-n-butyl phthalate (DBP), di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) and dioctyl phthalate (DOP) were successfully separated on a RP-C18 column. Under optimized conditions, the detection limits found for DMP, DEP, DBP, DEHP and DOP were 3, 2, 6, 10 and 33 pg mL(-1), respectively. The method was applied to the analysis of various water samples. Spiked samples gave recoveries in the range from 86.9 to 101.9%, with relative standard deviations below 7.0%. A comparison of Nylon6 nanofibers mat as sorbents, and C18 cartridges and other kinds of SPE sorbents was carried out with respect to recovery, sensitivity, and reproducibility. The results indicated that the Nylon mat is a viable material for the enrichment and determination of phthalate esters in environmental water samples.