Development of high internal phase emulsion polymeric monoliths for highly efficient enrichment of trace polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from large-volume water samples

In this work, polymerized high internal phase emulsion (polyHIPE) monoliths were prepared and applied as monolithic adsorbent materials for proconcentration of trace polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from large-volume water samples. The monolithic polyHIPE columns were prepared by in situ polymerization of the continuous phase of a high internal phase emulsion (HIPE) containing styrene (STY), divinylbenzene (DVB) and glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) in pipette tips, and the resulting STY/DVB/GMA polyHIPE monoliths exhibited highly interconnected porosity and large surface areas, making them excellent candidates as adsorbents for enrichment of trace aromatic compounds. The prepared STY/DVB/GMA polyHIPE monoliths were applied to the determination of trace PAHs in environmental water samples by combing with high performance liquid chromatography-fluorescence detection (HPLC-FLD). Under the optimized experimental conditions, the polyHIPE monoliths could effectively enrich trace 13 PAHs from 500 mL of water samples, the mean recoveries at four spiked levels were ranged from 80.7% to 115.0% with the relative standard deviations (RSDs) lower than 14%, and the detection limits (LODs) were ranged from 4.0 to 228 pg/L. In addition, the prepared polyHIPE monolith was stable enough for more than 200 replicate extraction cycles without measurable loss of performance on the enrichment of PAHs, and good column-to-column repeatability was obtained with RSD less than 13%. The proposed method was applied to simultaneous analysis of 13 PAHs in water samples with satisfactory recoveries.