Synthesis of a silica nanocomposite for solid-phase microextraction of phthalates released from PVC and PET bottles

This work explaines the electrodeposition of polycatechol/silica nanoparticles (PCAT/SNPs) composite coating on stainless steel wire for direct solid-phase microextraction of a group of phthalate esters. The influencing items on the extraction efficiency and morphology of the nanocomposite were investigated in details. After that, characterization of the nanocomposite was studied by scanning electron microscopy and Fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy. Also, the parameters related to the solid-phase microextraction method were tested. Subsequently, the proposed procedure was validated by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry by thermal desorption and acceptable figures of merit were obtained. The linearity of the calibration curves was between ۰.۰۱ and ۱۰۰ ng mL-۱ and limits of detection were in the range ۰.۰۰۱–۰.۰۰۵ ng mL-۱. Relative standard deviations in terms of intra-day, inter-day and fiber-to-fiber reproducibilities were measured. Also, extraction recoveries at two different concentrations were up to ۹۴%. Finally, the applicability of the proposed method was examined through the analysis of some PVC, PC and PET bottles.