Application of mesoporous carbon-polymer monolith for the extraction of phenolic acid in food samples

In this study, activated carbon-organic polymer (AC-polymer) extraction columns were prepared via microwave-assisted polymerization. The AC-polymer was applied in polymer monolith microextraction (PMME) of phenolic acids (PAs) in food samples. Structural characterization using Raman and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy revealed the successful incorporation of AC into polymer monolith. In contrast to neat polymer in which low extraction efficiency (17.0-57.7%) was observed, the AC-polymer (8 mg AC, 4 cm column length) afforded better extraction efficiency for PAs ranging from 75.8 to 99.8% for intra-day with less than 1.4% relative standard deviations (RSDs) and inter-day precision ranging from 74.3 to 100.1% (<2.7% RSDs). The extraction efficiency for column-to-column were found to be in the range of 72.8-100.5% (<2.0% RSDs) (n = 3). Under the optimized conditions, the AC-polymer monolithic column was successfully applied in PMME of PAs in fruit wine and cranberry juice samples at concentrations of <4.8 mg L−1 and 26.54 mg L−1, respectively.