Mixed hemimicelles solid-phase extraction of cephalosporins in biological samples with ionic liquid-coated magnetic graphene oxide nanoparticles coupled with high-performance liquid chromatographic analysis

A novel mixed hemimicelles solid phase extraction based on magnetic graphene oxide (Fe3O4/GO) and ionic liquid (IL) was developed for the simultaneous extraction and determination of trace cephalosporins in spiked human urine. The high surface area and excellent adsorption capacity of the graphene oxide after modification with1-hexadecyl-3-methylmidazoliumbromide(C16mimBr) were utilized adequately in the solid phase extraction(SPE) process. A comprehensive study of the parameters affecting the extraction recovery, such as the zeta-potential of magnetic graphene oxide, amounts of magnetic graphene oxide and surfactant, pH of solution, ionic strength, extraction time, and desorption condition were optimized. A comparative study on the use of different surfacant-coated Fe3O4/GO NPs as sorbents was presented. Good linearity (R2> 0.9987) for all calibration curves was obtained. The LODs were ranged between 0.6 and 1.9 ng mL−1 for the cephalosporins and the LOQs were 1.5 to 5.5, respectively. Satisfactory recoveries(84.3% to 101.7%)and low relative standard deviations from 1.7% to 6.3% in biological matrices were achieved. The mixed hemimicelles magnetic SPE (MSPE) method based on ILs and Fe3O4/GO NPs magnetic separation has ever been successfully used for pretreatment of complex biological samples.