3D microporous metal-organic framework Ca-TCPB as a fiber coating for headspace solid-phase microextraction of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

Abstract

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) as a type of persistent organic pollutants in environment can pose serious threat to ecosystem and human health. Herein, a microporous metal-organic framework (MOF) material namely Ca-TCPB [H₄TCPB: 1,2,4,5-tetrakis(4-carboxyphenyl)-benzene] with three-dimensional (3D) structure was synthesized via simple solvothermal method. The Ca-TCPB served as fiber coating of solid-phase microextraction (SPME) to extract and enrich PAHs prior to gas chromatography analysis. The results showed that the established method has a wide linear range (0.005–40 ng⋅mL^-1), high coefficient of determination (R²>0.9961), low detection limit (0.0017–0.003 ng⋅mL^-1), and high enrichment factor (7504–13,932), respectively. In addition, the analytical method was successful detected trace target PAHs in pond water with recoveries in the range of 83.3–114.1 %. The excellent extraction ability of this Ca-TCPB crystalline material for target PAHs can be attributed to strong interactions between Ca-TCPB and PAHs, including π-π stacking interactions and hydrogen bonding interactions. It was shown that Ca-TCPB material as fiber coating material possessed the merits of facile and eco-friendly synthesis process, high enrichment multiples, superior thermal stability (470 °C), and high number of reuse times (75 times). Furthermore, the biocompatible Ca-TCPB is alternative material that are green, safe and sustainable. Therefore, the innovative use of Ca-TCPB material as a fiber coating for HP-SPME in this work opens new horizons for sample preparation and environmental analysis.