Amphiphilic block copolymer modified magnetic nanoparticles for microwave-assisted extraction of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in environmental water

In this work, amphiphilic block copolymer poly(tert-butyl methacrylate)-block-poly(glycidyl methacrylate) (PtBMA-b-PGMA) modified Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles (Fe3O4 MNPs) were synthesized, and served as an adsorbent for microwave-assisted extraction of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The PtBMA-b-PGMA block copolymers with different block ratios were prepared by two-step atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) and the extraction abilities of their corresponding Fe3O4@PtBMA-b-PGMA were investigated. The key factors affecting the extraction efficiency of the adsorbent, including microwave conditions, amount of adsorbent, type and volume of desorption solvent, were studied in detail. In comparison with vortex, which is a conventional method used for assisting extraction, the proposed microwave-assisted method allowed better extraction efficiency and required a shorter extraction time. The calibration curves of PAHs were obtained in the range of 0.05-120 μg/L (r > 0.9985) and the limits of detection (S/N = 3) were in the range of 2.4-6.3 ng/L. The recoveries of PAHs spiked in environmental water samples were between 62.5% and 104% with relative standard deviations (RSDs) ranging from 0.84% to 9.02%. The proposed technique combining microwave-assisted extraction and magnetic separation was demonstrated to be a fast, convenient and sensitive pretreating method for PAHs.