Polyaniline-coated magnetite nanoparticles incorporated in alginate beads for the extraction and enrichment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in water samples

ABSTRACT

A magnetic solid-phase extraction sorbent consisting of polyaniline-coated magnetite nanoparticles entrapped in alginate beads (PANI/alginate/Fe₃O₄) was successfully synthesised and applied for the extraction and preconcentration of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in water samples. The magnetite nanoparticles helped to provide an easy and rapid isolation of the sorbent from the sample solution using an external magnet. The alginate beads helped to increase the surface area for polyaniline coating. The polyaniline-coated alginate/magnetite composite helped to increase the extraction efficiency due to the π–π interactions between the polyaniline and the PAHs. Various parameters that affected the extraction efficiencies were optimised including the polymerisation time, the amount of sorbent, sample pH, extraction time, ionic strength, and desorption conditions. Under the optimal conditions, a linear response was achieved in the concentration range of 0.040–50.0 µg L⁻¹, and the limit of detection was 0.010 µg L⁻¹. This simple, convenient, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly method was successfully applied for the extraction and enrichment of PAHs in water samples. The recoveries ranged from 86.0% to 97.8% with a relative standard deviation <10 %.

KEYWORDS:

• Magnetic solid-phase extraction
• polyaniline
• alginate
• polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the budget revenue of Prince of Songkla University (SCI581211S), the Thailand Research Fund, Office of the Higher Education Commission, Science Achievement Scholarship of Thailand (SAST), Center of Excellent for Innovation in Chemistry (PERCH–CIC), Trace Analysis and Biosensor Research Center. The authors thank Dr. Brian Hodgson for his help in English proofreading.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

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Funding

This work was supported by the Prince of Songkla University: [SCI581211S].