Preconcentration and determination of polybrominated diphenyl ethers in environmental water samples by solid-phase microextraction with Fe3O4-coated bamboo charcoal fibers prior to gas chromatography–mass spectrometry

In this paper, bamboo charcoals were modified using Fe3O4 nanosheets for the first time. The composites, as a novel solid-phase microextraction (SPME) fiber coating, were used for the extraction of seven polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in environmental water samples. The extraction factors (stirring rate, extraction time, and ionic strength) and desorption factors (desorption time and desorption temperature) of the fibers were systematically investigated and optimized. Under optimum conditions, the linear range was 1–1000 ng L−1. Based on the ratio of chromatographic signal to base line noise (S N−1 = 3), the limits of detection (LODs) can reach 0.25–0.62 ng L−1. The novel method was successful in the analysis of PBDEs in real environmental water samples. The results indicate that bamboo charcoal/Fe3O4 as an SPME coating material coupled with gas chromatography–negative chemical ionization-mass spectrometry is an excellent method for the routine analysis of PBDEs at trace levels in environmental water samples.

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► Investigate the feasibility of bamboo charcoal/Fe3O4 as a novel SPME fiber coating material.
► Establish a SPME method for the enrichment and determination of PBDEs.
► The new coating could be reused for over 100 times without loss of extraction efficiency.
► The novel coating is much less costly than commercial coatings.