Triphenylamine-functionalized magnetic microparticles as a new adsorbent coupled with high performance liquid chromatography for the analysis of trace polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in aqueous samples

Triphenylamine (TPA)-functionalized magnetic microspheres (Fe3O4/SiO2/TPA) were prepared and applied as solid phase extraction (SPE) adsorbents for the analysis of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in environmental samples in combination with high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The magnetic solid-phase extraction (MSPE) conditions affecting the extraction efficiency were optimized, including elution solvent, standing time, amount of sorbent, and salt concentration. Due to the strong pi-pi conjugate effect between the benzene rings of TPA and PAHs, high extraction efficiency was achieved with spiked recoveries of 80.21-108.33% and relative standard deviations (RSD) of less than 10%. Good linearities (R-2 > 0.997) for all calibration curves were obtained with low limits of detection (LOD) of 0.25, 0.5, 0.5, 3.75, 0.2 and 0.04 ng L-1 for anthracene, fluoranthene, pyrene, chrysene, benzo[b]fluoranthene and benzo[k]fluoranthene, respectively. The achieved results indicate the applicability of Fe3O4/SiO2/TPA as MSPE adsorbents.