Direct determination of benzo[a]pyrene in water samples by a gold nanoparticle-based solid phase extraction method and laser-excited time-resolved Shpol'skii spectrometry

The strong affinity between polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and the surface of gold colloids is investigated to device an extraction method for water samples. Within the 20–100 nm particle diameter range, the 20 nm gold nanoparticles showed the best extraction efficiencies for all the studied analytes. The new approach is combined to laser-excited time-resolved Shpol'skii spectrometry for the direct analysis of benzo[a]pyrene in drinking water samples. For a 500 μL sample volume, the analytical figures of merit demonstrate precise and accurate analysis at the parts-per-trillion level. The extraction efficiencies are statistically equivalent to 100% with relative standard deviations lower than 2%. The average recoveries were varied from 87.5% to 96.5% for different concentration of analytes. The simplicity of the experimental procedure, the low analysis cost, and the excellent analytical figures of merit demonstrate the potential of this approach for routine analysis of drinking water samples.