Novel copper sulfide doped titania nanoparticles as a robust fiber coating for solid-phase microextraction for determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

Abstract

Immobilized TiO₂ nanoparticles modified by nanoscale CuS (CuS@TiO₂NPs) were successfully synthesized and used as fibers for solid-phase microextraction (SPME) for the determination of some polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in water samples. A novel fiber has been developed by postprecipitation of CuS coated the titania nanoparticles in situ grown on a titanium wire annealed at 550 °C in a nitrogen ambient atmosphere. Its morphology and surface properties were characterized by scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry. It was connected to high performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet detector (HPLC-UV) equipment by replacing the sample loop of a six-port injection valve, building the online SPME-HPLC-UV system. Variables affecting extraction procedures, including desorption time, stirring speed, extraction temperature, extraction time and ionic strength were investigated and the parameters were optimized. The SPME fiber exhibits high selectivity for the five PAHs studied. The linear ranges varied between 0.15 μg L⁻¹ and 200 μg L⁻¹ with correlation coefficients ranging from 0.9913 to 0.9985. LODs and LOQs ranged from 0.02–0.04 μg L⁻¹ and 0.07–0.13 μg L⁻¹. RSDs for one fiber and fiber-to-fiber were in the range of 3.2–4.3% and 4.6–6.8%, respectively. Additionally, the fiber possessed advantages such as resistance to organic solvent, high mechanical strength and difficult breakage, making it have strong potential applications in the selective extraction of PAHs from complex water samples at trace levels.