Porous monolithic materials for extraction and preconcentration of pollutants from environmental waters

This review presents the strengths and weaknesses of monolithic materials for the enrichment of inorganic and organic contaminants in environmental waters. We describe the most common materials (silica, organic, and hybrid organic silica) and strategies for constructing monoliths in different moulds and shapes (tubes, cartridges, stir bars, fibers) published since 2015. The functionalization of the pore surfaces enhances their affinity towards different classes of pollutants. For instance, the incorporation of chelating groups enables the enrichment of potentially toxic metals and semi-metals in aquatic environments before the analyses by spectrometric techniques. Monolithic materials for extracting emerging pollutants, diverse classes of herbicides, and fungicides were proposed recently. Incorporation of carbon-based and magnetic nanoparticles, metal-organic frameworks, and ionic liquids enhanced their adsorption capacity by either increasing the surface area or providing multiple retention mechanisms. Monoliths with molecular recognition properties for highly selective extractions have been synthesized, including boronic functionalities and molecularly imprinted cavities. The final part describes the hybrid organic silica monoliths, emphasizing metal ions and speciation analysis hyphenated with ICP-MS. In the outlook section, we point to some fields we believe monoliths will benefit, such as their 3-D technologies preparation. We also pointed their potential applicability in portable chromatographic systems, restricted access materials, and enhanced use to preconcentrate viruses from aquatic environments. (c) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

This review discusses the strengths, applications, and future development directions of monolithic materials for the enrichment of contaminants in environmental waters, including detailed descriptions of different materials and construction methods and various strategies for functionalization and functionality enhancement. It also covers the research progress of monolithic materials in extracting different pollutants and emerging pollutants.