Development of poly(N-ethylpyrrole)/modified carbon nanotubes fiber for microextraction of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in contaminated waters

The waters and wastewaters around industrial areas are heavily polluted and have adverse effects on the ecosystems. This work is mainly focused on the electropolymerization of N-ethylpyrrole (NEtPy) and co-deposited on a stainless steel wire along with modified carbon nanotubes (mCNTs). The prepared nanocomposite was applied as a novel coating for head-space solid-phase microextraction (SPME) of some heavy polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from aqueous media prior to gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). To obtain an effective coating, several factors related to the electrochemical process were investigated and the optimized. Characterization for chemical structure of the synthesized PNEtPy/mCNTs nanocomposite was conducted with Fourier transform-infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was accomplished for observing the surface morphology of the coating. Some items involved in microextraction process were also checked in details. Under optimized case, validation parameters were assessed. Low detection limits (۰.۴ and ۴.۳ pg mL-۱) and good repeatability were achieved. The method was utilized to analyses contaminated real samples such as wastewater samples from Coal Processing Industries and agricultural water samples collected from the vicinity of the industry in different seasons. High recoveries were obtained, finally.

Keywords:

Wastewaters , Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons , Nanocomposite , Solid-phase microextraction.