Three-dimensional graphene aerogel-mesoporous carbon composites as novel coatings for solid-phase microextraction for the efficient enrichment of brominated flame retardants

Graphene aerogel-mesoporous carbon ( GA-MC) composites with three-dimensional ( 3D) hierarchical nanostructures were synthesized using a nanocasting technique. The honeycomb-like GA-MC composites exhibited very high surface areas ( 728.3 m(2) g(-1)), and ultra large pore sizes ( 48 nm) and pore volumes ( 0.96 cm(3) g(-1)) due to the synergistic combination of the advantages of both macro-porous graphene aerogels and the meso-pores of mesoporous carbon. These wonderful features made GA-MC a promising enrichment material for SPME fiber coating. Under the optimum conditions, the home-made fiber ( GA-MC) was successfully applied to extract BFRs in real wastewater samples and ideal results were obtained with recoveries of 74.6-96.2%. The new fibers demonstrated excellent enrichment capabilities compared to commercial polydimethylsiloxane ( PDMS) and polyacrylate ( PA) fibers for six brominated flame retardants ( BFRs). The ideal extraction performance of the novel graphene aerogel-mesoporous composites creates new opportunities for SPME applied in environmental analysis.