Hyphenated method of dispersive solid phase microextraction and surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy for rapid analysis of PAHs

Thioctic acid-modified Ag NPs have been utilized as a pH-responsive platform. • A hyphenated method of DSPME and SERS is established for the analysis of PAHs. • Extraction, enrichment, and detection are integrated into one step. • This method demonstrates high sensitivity and good reproducibility. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) pose a significant threat to human health owing to their carcinogenic, teratogenic, and mutagenic properties, underscoring the urgent need for the expeditious development of efficient detection methodologies. The prevailing analytical methodologies for PAHs are characterized by two primary drawbacks: the necessity of extensive sample pretreatment and the use of high-cost instrumentation. The present study proposes a hyphenated method of dispersive solid phase microextraction (DSPME) and surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) for rapid analysis of PAHs. Thioctic acid-modified silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) can precisely regulate the dispersion and aggregation states by varying the pH value, thereby facilitating the DSPME enrichment and SERS analysis of PAHs. This method demonstrates high sensitivity (limits of detection: 8.2 ppb for fluoranthene, 0.75 ppb for benzo[ a ]pyrene), good reproducibility (batch-to-batch variation <5%), and excellent selectivity. Furthermore, the method reveals satisfactory recovery rates and robust anti-interference ability in real environmental water samples, offering considerable promise for expeditious, dependable, on-site PAH detection with minimal pretreatment and portable equipment. Download: Download high-res image (46KB) Download: Download full-size image