Preconcentration of emerging contaminants in environmental water samples by using silica supported Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles for improving mass detection in capillary liquid chromatography

A magnetic material based on Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles incorporated in a silica matrix by using a sol–gel procedure has been used to extract and preconcentrate emerging contaminants such as acetylsalicylic acid, acetaminophen, diclofenac and ibuprofen from environmental water samples prior to the analysis with Capillary LC–MS. The use of the proposed silica supported Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles enables surfactant free extracts for the analysis with MS detection without interferences in the ionisation step. Under the optimum conditions, we demonstrated the reusability of the magnetic sorbent material during 20 uses without loss in the extraction efficiency. In addition, no cleanup was necessary. The preconcentration factor was 100 and the detection limits were between 50 and 150 ng/L. The proposed procedure has been applied to the analysis of water samples obtaining recoveries between 80 and 110% and RSD values lower than 12%. Concentrations of the target analytes over the range 1.7 and 0.1 μg/L have been found in different water samples.