Determination of fluoroquinolones in environmental water and milk samples treated with stir cake sorptive extraction based on a boron-rich monolith

Abstract

In this study, a new stir cake sorptive extraction using a boron-rich monolith as the adsorbent was prepared by the in situ copolymerization of vinylboronic anhydride pyridine complex and divinylbenzene. The effect of preparation parameters, including the ratio of vinylboronic anhydride pyridine complex and divinylbenzene, monomer mixture, and porogen solvent, on extraction performance was investigated thoroughly. The physicochemical properties of the adsorbent were characterized by infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and mercury intrusion porosimetry. Several conditions affecting the extraction efficiency were investigated in detail. Under the optimized conditions, a convenient and sensitive method for the determination of trace fluoroquinolones residues in water and milk samples was established by coupling stir cake sorptive extraction with high-performance liquid chromatography and diode array detection. The limits of detection for the target compounds were 0.10-0.26 and 0.11-0.22 μg/L for water and milk samples, respectively. In addition, the developed method showed good linearity, repeatability, and precision. Finally, the proposed method was successfully applied for the detection of trace fluoroquinolones residues in environmental water and milk samples. Satisfactory recoveries were obtained for the determination of fluoroquinolones in spiking samples that ranged from 68.8 to 120%, with relative standard deviations below 10% in all cases.