Titanium wire-based SPE coupled with HPLC for the analysis of PAHs in water samples

Abstract

Titanium wire-based solid phase extraction (SPE) is developed for the analysis of six different polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in water samples with coupling with high performance liquid chromatography. The adsorbent is a Ti wire on which TiO₂ nanotubes are first formed by anodization and then Au nanoparticles and n-octadecanethiol are modified. The surface composition and structure of the adsorbent were characterized in detail using field emission scanning electron microscope and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The main parameters affecting the extraction efficiency, such as the volume of the organic modifier, extraction time, elution solvent, and desorption time were optimized. Good linearities ranging from 0.025 to 30 μg L⁻¹ with correlation coefficients (R²) ranging from 0.9964 to 0.9999 and low limits of detection were obtained in spiked water samples. Furthermore, this method was successfully applied in the analysis of real river water samples with recoveries in the range of 75.33–115.83% and relative standard deviations ranging from 4.85 to 10.77%. The developed SPE can be a particularly convenient means of sample pretreatment for environmental water samples.