1-Butyl-3-aminopropyl imidazolium—functionalized graphene oxide as a nanoadsorbent for the simultaneous extraction of steroids and β-blockers via dispersive solid–phase microextraction

• A graphene oxide is chemically functionalized with the ionic liquid 1-butyl-3-aminopropyl imidazolium chloride.
• The resulting nanoadsorbent is employed for the dispersive solid–phase microextraction of steroids and β-blockers.
• A comparison with other graphene-based materials is made.
• The applicability of the procedure is evaluated with real-life matrices

In this study, we describe the synthesis of graphene oxide functionalized with the ionic liquid 1-butyl-3-aminopropyl imidazolium chloride and its use as an adsorbent for the dispersive solid–phase microextraction (micro SPE) of four anabolic steroids and six β-blockers from aqueous samples of environmental importance, prior to their HPLC-diode array detector analysis. As the ionic liquid is covalently attached to graphene oxide sheets, it is made possible for it to participate in the dispersive micro SPE procedure. The limits of detection and limits of quantification of the proposed method were found to be in the range of 7–23 ng/L and between 20 and 70 ng/L, respectively. The linearity was satisfactory, with the determination coefficients to range from 0.9940 to 0.9998 while the within- and between-day relative standard deviation of the method ranged between 3.1 and 7.6% and from 4.0 to 8.5%, respectively. In order to test the applicability of the proposed method in real-life samples, the effluent from a municipal wastewater treatment plant as well as natural water samples from two rivers and a lake were collected and analyzed. After the analysis of samples, the effluent from municipal wastewater treatment plant was fortified with the analytes, at concentrations equal to 2 and 10 times the LOQs. Recoveries were calculated after subtracting the native (no-spike) concentrations of analytes, when needed. All the recoveries were in the range of 87–98%. A comparison study attests to the superiority of the developed nanomaterial over graphene oxide and graphene for the dispersive micro SPE of steroids and β-blockers.