Preparation and Characterization of Polymer Solid-phase Microextraction Monolith Modified with Gold Nanoparticles

In this experiment, a novel polymer monolithic capillary column functionalized with gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) that enables selective capture of thiol-containing compounds was prepared for solid-phase microextraction. The column was prepared from a poly (glycidyl methacrylate-co-ethylenedimethacrylate) monolith and was modified chemically with cysteamine, followed by immobilization of AuNPs on the surface of the pores of the monolith. Thiol-containing compounds as model compounds were tested to evaluate the performance of this solid-phase microextraction monolith. The results indicated that the polymer monolith could selectively capture thiol-containing compounds from analytes, because AuNPs have a strong affinity for thiol-containing ligands. The loading capacity of the polymer monolith modified with AuNPs and the regenerated column determined for glutathione were 0.718 and 0.603 μmol, respectively. The extraction and enrichment of thiol-containing drugs on the polymer monolith modified with AuNPs was also investigated. It was found that the enrichment was 30-fold for captopril and this monolith can be used for the extraction and enrichment of trace captopril in plasma.