Magnetic metal-organic nanotubes: An adsorbent for magnetic solid-phase extraction of polychlorinated biphenyls from environmental and biological samples

A new type of three-dimensional, echinus-like magnetic Fe3O4 @ cobalt(Ⅱ)-based metal-organic nanotube (Fe3O4 @ Co-MONT) yolk-shell microspheres, have been designed and synthesized for the first time. Fe3O4 @ Co-MONTs yolk-shell microspheres were characterized by scanning electron micrographs, transmission electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectra, X-ray diffraction, and vibrating sample magnetometry. The feasibility of the new material for use as an absorbent was investigated for magnetic solid phase-extraction (MSPE) of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) from environmental water samples and biological samples. The Plackett-Burman design and Box-Behnken design were used to determine and optimize the extraction parameters influencing the extraction efficiency through response surface methodology. Under the optimized conditions, the developed method showed good linearity within the range of 5-1000 ng L−1, low limits of detection (0.31-0.49 ng L−1), and good reproducibility (RSD < 10%). The proposed method was successfully applied for the analysis of PCBs in real environmental water samples. These results demonstrated that Fe3O4 @ Co-MONTs is a promising adsorbent material for the MSPE of PCBs at trace levels from environmental water samples and biological samples.