Poly(Dimethylsiloxane)-Poly(Vinyl Alcohol) Coated Solid Phase Micro extraction Fiber for Chloropyrifos Analysis

Traditional liquid - liquid extraction of pesticides consumes large volumes of organic solvent which are hazardous to the operator and is not environment friendly. Solid phase micro extraction (SPME) is a solvent less extraction method which is safer to the operator and is environmental friendly. A sol-gel hybrid fibre coating material, poly(dimethylsiloxane)-poly(vinyl alcohol) (PDMS-PVA) was synthesized and used in head space solid phase micro extraction (HS-SPME) of chloropyrifos. The thickness of the synthesised PDMS-PVA fiber coating was 13.5 μm and it is thermally stable up to 400 degree Celsius. The PDMS-PVA sol-gel hybrid fiber was also stable to two organic solvents tested; acetonitrile and dichloromethane (1 hour dipping) and showed no significant changes in extraction performance for chloropyrifos. Extracted chloropyrifos was analysed using gas chromatography electron capture detector (GC-ECD). Optimum SPME parameters affecting the PDMS-PVA HS-SPME performance namely extraction time (15 min), extraction temperature (50 degree Celsius), desorption time (5 min), desorption temperature (260 degree Celsius) and stirring rate (120 rpm) were used for extraction. It was found that HSSPME using PDMS-PVA sol-gel fiber gave significantly better extraction performance of chloropyrifos compared to commercial 100 μm PDMS fiber. The PDMS-PVA fiber showed excellent operational performances such as temperature stability (up to 380 degree Celsius), coating lifetime (up to 170 times use) and organic solvent stability. The PDMS-PVA-HS-SPME method showed excellent recovery for chloropyrifos from tomatoes (98.0 %, 5.9 % RSD) at 0.01 μg/ g spiked level (5 times lower than maximum residue limit set by European Union). (author)