An alternative perspective of hollow fiber-mediated extraction: Bundled hollow fiber array-liquid-phase microextraction with sonication-assisted desorption and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry for determination of estrogens in aqueous matric

A bundled hollow fiber array (BHF)-liquid-phase microextraction (LPME) approach has been developed for the ultra-high performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometric determination of estrone, 17β-estradiol, estriol, and 17α-ethinylestradiol. The BHF was dipped in n-octanol to impregnate only the wall pores of the hollow fibers without deliberate loading of extractant solvent in the lumens, before placing it in the sample for extraction. Parameters influencing extraction efficiency, such as number of bundled hollow fibers, type of extraction and desorption solvent, agitation mode, extraction temperature and duration, and the salting out effect were examined. Under the most favourable experimental conditions, the enrichment factors were between 77 and 137-fold for the target compounds. The developed method offered high sensitivity and reproducibility. Low limits of detection and limits of quantification were achieved, i.e., between 0.251 and 0.440 ng/L, and 0.995 and 1.82 ng/L, respectively. Good intra and inter-day precision were obtained with relative standard deviations (RSDs) of less than 9%. BHF-LPME provided a new perspective on using membrane solvent-supported hollow fiber-mediated LPME. Raman spectroscopy was also introduced in this study to reaffirm that the polypropylene BHF did not play any role in the extraction; only the solvent was responsible.