Molecularly imprinted solid phase extraction coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry for determination of N-Nitrosodiphenylamine in water samples.

In this study, the molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) with high specific surface area and extraction efficiency of N-Nitrosodiphenylamine (NDPhA) were successfully prepared and a highly sensitive and selective method was developed for determination of NDPhA in water samples using MIPs solid-phase extraction (SPE) coupled with gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS) detection. The MIPs were successfully prepared using the method of precipitation polymerization and using methacrylic acid as the functional monomer, ethylene glycol dimethacrylate as the cross-linker, and N, N-Diphenylformamide as the template molecule. The newly synthesized MIPs were characterized and used as SPE sorbents. Under the optimized conditions, the average recoveries of NDPhA spiked in ultrapure water were higher than 94% ± 2.9% at three different concentrations and the limit of detection and limit of quantitation were 0.8 ng L-1 and 2.4 ng L-1, respectively. Moreover, the high selectivity of MIPs was attained and the satisfactory recoveries of NDPhA which were spiked in to real samples were achieved in the range of 92-107% with relative standard deviations (RSDs) within 0.3-7.9%. The low levels of NDPhA were detected in the two of twelve wastewater samples with concentrations of 5.6 ng L-1 and 3.6 ng L-1 with RSDs of 5.6% and 2.8%, respectively. The developed MIP-SPE method was proved to be practically feasible for selective extraction and enrichment of NDPhA in real water samples.