Magnetic solid-phase extraction based on g-C3N4/Fe3O4/MoS2 as a magnetic adsorbent for HPLC-UV determination of fluoroquinolones in chicken and eggs

Abstract

A ternary nanocomposite, g-C₃N₄/Fe₃O₄/MoS₂, was successfully synthesized via a reliable and effective hydrothermal method and used as an adsorbent in magnetic solid-phase extraction (MSPE) for separation and concentration of trace fluoroquinolones (FQs) in chicken and eggs. This extraction technique is combined with high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) using an ultraviolet-visible (UV) detector to determine the content. The synthesized adsorbent was characterized using different techniques, including X-ray diffraction spectrometry (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), vibrating-sample magnetometry (VSM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET). Various parameters influencing the extraction efficiency were studied and optimized. Under the optimized conditions, this extraction method provided good linearity over the range of 2–300 μg L⁻¹ with the coefficient of determination, r², ranging from 0.9993 to 0.9997; good spiked recoveries (89.3–99.6%) were obtained under the optimum conditions, and the relative standard deviations, which are used to indicate reproducibility, were less than 4.5%. The limits of detection (LOD) were determined to be in the range from 0.5 to 2.0 μg L⁻¹, and the limits of quantification (LOQ) were from 1.7 to 6.7 μg L⁻¹. This study confirmed the potential of using the g-C₃N₄/Fe₃O₄/MoS₂ adsorbent for extraction of FQs in chicken and eggs.