Molybdenum disulfide-hypercrosslinked polymer composite as an adsorbent for determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in environmental water coupled with HPLC-FLD

Abstract

A composite was synthesized from two-dimensional molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂) nanosheets and hypercrosslinked polymers (HCP), and the composite was characterized by infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and specific surface area. The fluffy and porous structure and multiple adsorption sites (π-interaction, static electricity, hydrogen bonding) make it ideal for use as an adsorbent. A pipette tip solid-phase extraction with the composite as the adsorbent combined with HPLC-FLD was developed to determine trace amounts of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (phenanthrene, anthracene, fluoranthene, pyrene, benzo(α)anthracene) in environmental water. Under optimal extraction conditions, the method has a wide linear range (0.5-100 ng mL^-1) and low limit of detection (0.024-0.099 ng mL^-1), and the recoveries of PAHs from spiked environmental water were 73.8% to 123.6% (relative standard deviation ≤ 6.7%, n = 3). Graphical abstract Schematic representation of a three-dimensional molybdenum disulfide-ethylenediamine-hypercrosslinked polymer composite (MoS₂-EDA-HCP) using pipette tip solid-phase extraction adsorbent for extracting trace levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) prior to HPLC-FLD. HCP, hypercrosslinked polymer; MoS₂, molybdenum disulfide; EDA, ethylenediamine.

Keywords: Crosslinked polymer; MoS2; Persistent organic pollutants; Pipette tip solid-phase extraction; Sample preparation.