Carbon and Tin-Based Polyacrylonitrile Hybrid Architecture Solid Phase Microextraction Fiber for the Detection and Quantification of Antibiotic Compounds in Aqueous Environmental Systems

Microsyringe-based slug-flow microextraction for rapid and accurate determination of antibiotics in highly saline seawater

BACKGROUND

Extensive use of antibiotics leads to widespread environmental pollution, endangering ecosystems, and human health. It is particularly concerning, posing global threats requiring urgent attention and action. In this regard, the shift to mass spectrometry in determining antibiotics is highly desirable. Significant progress has been made in analyzing and optimizing the sensitivity of high-salt samples. However, the persistence of cumbersome operational procedures presents a significant challenge to this shift. Thus, the persistence of complex operational procedures needs to be addressed.

RESULTS

In this study, a rapid and direct method for determining antibiotics in highly saline environmental water samples using microsyringe-based slug-flow microextraction (MSFME)-droplet spray ionization (DSI) mass spectrometry (MS) has been described. The proposed method successfully detected clarithromycin, ofloxacin, and sulfadimidine in seawater within a linear range of 1-1200 ng mL-1, with low limits of detection of 0.19 ng mL-1, 0.17 ng mL-1, and 0.20 ng mL-1, respectively (Signal/Noise = 3). Additionally, spiked real seawater samples of all three antibiotics demonstrated satisfactory recoveries (95.1-107.5%) and precision (RSD≤8.8%). The MSFME-treated high-salt sample (3.5 wt%) showed a mass spectral response intensity 4-5 orders of magnitude higher than the untreated medium-salt sample (0.35 wt%). Furthermore, exploration of the applicability of MSFME showed that it is suitable not only for high-salinity (3.5 wt%) samples but also for salt-free or low-salt and hard water samples rich in calcium and magnesium ions.

SIGNIFICANCE

Comparisons with other methods, complex laboratory setups for sample processing are now simplified to a single step, completing the entire process, including desalination and detection, MSFME-DSI-MS provides faster results in less than 1 min while maintaining sensitivity comparable to that of other detection methods. In conclusion, this advancement provides an exceptionally simplified protocol for the rapid, highly sensitive, and quantitative determination of antibiotics in environmental water samples.

The effect of different binders on the comprehensive performance of solid phase microextraction fiber

Binders are significant components for the preparation of solid-phase microextraction (SPME) fibers. However, little attention has been paid to the effect of different binders. Considering their diverse properties, in this work, we select three kinds of commonly used binders including polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), polyacrylonitrile (PAN) and Nafion, as well as introduce a new binder of poly (vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) to synthetically study the influence of binders. By using the commercial active carbons (ACs) with different binders, four SPME fibers with uniform morphologies and comparative thicknesses (i.e., ACs-PDMS-coated, ACs-PAN-coated, ACs-Nafion-coated and ACs-PVDF-coated fibers) have been prepared successfully. The effect of binders on the pore structure of ACs is firstly investigated. It is found that PDMS and PAN would cause pore blocking, and the specific surface area of ACs coatings decreases from 1362 m² g^-1 to 280 and 196 m² g^-1, respectively. While the specific surface area of ACs-PVDF composite remains 940 m² g^-1. Based on SPME, the influences of acid/alkali, high temperature and matrix towards different fibers are further systematically surveyed. Finally, the enrichment performance of prepared fibers towards various organic pollutants is preliminarily discussed. The comparison results show that PVDF demonstrates outstanding stability in all aspects. Therefore, PVDF might be an excellent candidate for the preparation of SPME fiber. Moreover, all obtained results are expected to provide the reference value for the further development of novel SPME fibers.

Flower-like architecture magnesia-carbon composite material for highly sensitive solid-phase microextraction

The development of carbon sorbents with high specific surface areas remains a hot research field in analytical community. In the current study, a novel three-dimensional hierarchical flower-like magnesium glycollate sphere was synthesized. Then, the obtained magnesium glycollate sphere was carbonized to obtain magnesia-carbon composite material with enhanced performance. The flower-like carbon material exhibited good adsorption capacity towards polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons due to the large surface area, the strong π-π interaction force and hydrophobic forces. The flower-like MgO&C material was used as a solid-phase microextraction fiber coating for the analysis of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in real river water samples. Good linearity (5-1000 ng L^-1), satisfactory relatively recoveries (86.2-113.5%) and low limits of detections (0.01-0.20 ng L^-1) were obtained under the optimized conditions.

Trends in sensitive detection and rapid removal of sulfonamides: A review

Sulfonamides in environmental water, food, and feed are a major concern for both aquatic ecosystems and public health, because they may lead to the health risk of drug resistance. Thus, numerous sensitive detection and rapid removal methodologies have been established. This review summarizes the sample preparation techniques and instrumental methods used for sensitive detection of sulfonamides. Additionally, adsorption and photocatalysis for the rapid removal of sulfonamides are also discussed. This review provides a comprehensive perspective on future sulfonamide analyses that have good performance, and on the basic methods for the rapid removal of sulfonamides.