Metal-organic framework UiO-66 for rapid dispersive solid phase extraction of neonicotinoid insecticides in water samples

UIO-66 crystals were explored for the first time to adsorb neonicotinoid insecticides in environmental water samples. HPLC coupled with tandem MS was used for quantification and determination of neonicotinoid insecticides. UiO-66 crystals was successfully synthesized by a simple constant-temperature bath method. Synthesized UiO-66 was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermogravimetry and nitrogen adsorption porosimetry (NAP), which demonstrated a uniform particle size, a large Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area and high thermostability. The adsorbing results showed that UIO-66 crystals could be used as a promising adsorbents for rapid extraction of neonicotinoid insecticides and be reused at least 10 times. Under the optimized conditions, the limits of detection (LODs, S/N = 3) and limits of quantification (LOQs, S/N = 10) for the five insecticides were found to be 0.02-0.4 ng/mL and 0.05-1.0 ng/mL, respectively. This developed approach not only provided more simple and sensitive method, as well as possessing satisfactory recovery for neonicotinoid insecticides, but also for other traces in environmental samples.