A new strategy based on cholesterol-functionalized iron oxide magnetic nanoparticles for determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons by high-performance liquid chromatography with cholesterol column

• Cholesterol-functionalized sorbent was prepared for magnetic solid phase extraction.
• Varieties of experiment factors were optimized and selected.
• Cholesterol column was prepared for high-performance liquid chromatography separation.
• Solvent consumption of the proposed column is only half of the conventional column but with higher efficiency.

This study reported for the first time the use of cholesterol-functionalized magnetic nanoparticles (Fe3O4@SiO2@Chol) for the determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in traditional Chinese medicine samples (TCMs) by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled with fluorescence detection. The method was efficient, environmentally friendly, and fast. The solvent consumption of the proposed column is only half of the conventional column but with higher efficiency. Influencing factors, including sorbent amount, desorption solvent, sample volume and extraction time, were investigated in detail. Under the optimum conditions, good linearity (R2 > 0.991) was obtained over the range of 5–400 ng g−1, with limits of detection (LOD) 0.75, 0.50, 1.0, 0.56, 0.60, 0.84 and 0.80 ng g−1 for anthracene, fluoranthene, pyrene, chrysene, benzo[a]anthracene, benzo(b)fluoranthene and benzo(k)fluoranthene, respectively.

Procedure of the analysis for PAHs by using Fe3O4@SiO2@Chol magnetic nanoparticles in four kinds of TCMs.Figure optionsDownload as PowerPoint slide