Development of nitrogen-enriched carbonaceous material coated titania nanotubes array as a fiber coating for solid-phase microextraction of ultraviolet filters in environmental water.

A novel solid-phase microextraction (SPME) fiber was fabricated by direct electrodeposition of polyaniline (PANI) coated the titania nanotube arrays in situ grown on the titanium wire followed by carbonization at 500°C under nitrogen atmosphere. The resulting titanium-based fiber with nitrogen-enriched carbonaceous material coated titania nanotubes (N-C/TiONTs/Ti) showed better extraction performance for ultraviolet (UV) filters among model aromatic compounds compared with common PANI as well as commercial polydimethylsiloxane and polyacrylate coatings. The influence of various experimental parameters on the extraction efficiency of UV filters were investigated and optimized. The calibration curves were linear from 0.2 to 200μgL for each analyte with correlation coefficients above 0.9980. Limits of detection (LODs) and limits of quantitation (LOQs) ranged from 0.03 to 0.05μgL and from 0.11 to 0.18μgL for UV filters, respectively. Relative standard deviations (RSDs) for single fiber repeatability ranged from 3.3% to 4.1% (n=5) and RSDs for fiber-to-fiber reproducibility (n=3) varied from 5.7% to 7.7%. The proposed method was successfully applied to the preconcentration and determination of target UV filters in river water and wastewater samples with good recoveries from 86.2% to 113%. Moreover this novel Ti-based fiber is mechanically and chemically stable, and can be easily prepared in a highly reproducible manner.