Insight into the extraction mechanism of polymeric ionic liquid sorbent coatings in solid-phase microextraction

• The extraction mechanism of polymeric ionic liquid sorbent coatings was explored.
• Sorbent coatings consisting of linear and crosslinked PIL polymers were examined.
• All PIL coatings exhibited noncompetitive inhibition in the extraction of 1-octanol.
• The PIL coatings examined exhibited partition extraction similar to polyacrylate.

An investigation into the mechanism of extraction for polymeric ionic liquid (PIL)-based solid phase microextraction sorbent coatings is described. Four PIL-based coatings, namely, a poly(1-4-vinylbenzyl)-3-hexadecylimidazolium bis[(trifluoromethyl)sulfonyl] imide (poly([VBHDIM][NTf2])) PIL produced through 2,2′-azo-bis(isobutyronitrile) (AIBN) initiated free-radical polymerization, a UV-initiated poly(1-vinyl-3-hexylimidazolium) chloride (poly([VHIM][Cl])) PIL, and two crosslinked PILs containing the same IL monomers copolymerized with dicationic IL crosslinkers, were investigated. Calibration curves of 1-octanol were plotted in the presence of naphthalene, a model interfering compound, to observe changes in the linear range, sensitivity, and amount of analytes extracted. Results were compared with a polydimethylsiloxane/divinylbenzene (PDMS/DVB) coating and a polyacrylate (PA) coating which are known to extract analytes primarily through adsorption and partitioning mechanisms, respectively. All PIL-based coatings extracted analytes via a non-competitive partitioning mechanism regardless of the extent of crosslinking.