Graphene oxide-SiO2 nanocomposite as the adsorbent for extraction and preconcentration of plant hormones for HPLC analysis

- Graphene oxide-SiO2 nanocomposite was prepared and used as the sorbent of dSPE.
- DSPE-HPLC method was developed for the analysis of plant hormones.
- The method was applied to analysis of real samples with high sensitivity.

In this research, a modified Quick, Easy, Cheap, Effective, Rugged and Safe (QuEChERS) method based on graphene oxide@SiO2(SiO2@GO) nanocomposite as adsorbent of dispersive solid-phase extraction (dSPE) combined with high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) for the analysis of four plant hormones in different plants was established. The as-prepared SiO2@GO was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and infrared spectroscopy. The experimental conditions for dSPE, including the ratio of material to liquid, pH of sample, adsorption and desorption time, desorption temperature as well as desorption solution, were investigated. The detection limits for the analysis of indole-3-acetic acid, indole-3-butyric acid, 1-naphthylacetic acid and abscisic acid were achieved below 0.05 μg mL−1. The established method was applied to the analysis of the plant hormones in fruits, vegetables and other food samples. The obtained results indicated that the method was sensitive, accurate, convenient and quick, which provided an alternative analytical approach for plant hormones in complex matrices.