Banana Peel-Derived Porous Carbon Solid-Phase Microextraction (SPME) with Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) for the Determination of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs)

Green MgO-based banana peel activated carbon (MgO-BPAC) with distinctive pore structure features was synthesized with magnesium nitrate as the template and activator. A novel solid-phase microextraction (SPME) fiber was prepared by fixing MgO-BPAC on the surface of a stainless-steel wire using silicone sealant. The fiber was coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) for headspace-solid phase microextraction-GC-MS (HS-SPME-GC-MS) for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The laboratory-constructed fiber showed good extraction efficiency for naphthalene, acenaphthylene, acenaphthene, fluorene, phenanthrene, and anthracene and the corresponding analytical parameters were determined. The method provided low detection limits (0.86–2.12 ng/L) with satisfactory replicate extractions of one fiber (relative standard deviations ≤ 10.30%) and fiber to fiber reproducibility (relative standard deviations ≤ 13.92%). To validate the performance of the homemade fibers, this approach was used for the determination of the PAHs (0.05 μg/L) in spiked environmental water samples and good recoveries (92.67%–114.45%) were obtained. This study introduces a biocarbon material as a functional fiber coating component which adsorbs aromatic constituents through hydrophobic interactions.