Silane modified magnetic nanoparticles as a novel adsorbent for determination of morphine at trace levels in human hair samples by high-performance liquid chromatography with diode array detection.

In this paper we report a novel, sensitive, and rapid method of magnetic solid phase extraction based on surface modified magnetic nanoparticles as a novel nano sorbent for HPLC determination of morphine with diode array detection in human hair samples. Factors affecting the extraction efficiency of the proposed method, including the sample pH, quantity of magnetic nanoparticles, sample volume, desorption solvent type and its volume, and extraction time were investigated and optimized. Under the optimized experimental conditions, a good linearity was observed in the range of 1-800 µgL(-1) for the morphine, with a correlation coefficient (R (2)) of 0.990. The pre-concentration factor of 208.69 was achieved in this method. The detection limit of the method was 0.1 μgL(-1) based on S/N = 3 and good reproducibility with a relative standard deviations lower than (n = 5) 2.59 %. The proposed method has been successfully applied to the analysis of trace amounts of morphine in human hair samples with satisfactory results. This method can be applied in medical toxicology research and forensic medical centers.