Highly selective capture and efficient concentration of trace titanium dioxide nanoparticles in environmental waters by phosphorylated ferroferric oxide

• Published in: Environmental science. Nano 2024-06, Vol.11 (6), p.2541-2549
• Main Authors: Zheng, Ronggang, Yu, Sujuan, Yang, Rui, Li, Peng, Li, Qingcun, Li, Li, Chen, Yuhang, Cai, Yaqi, Liu, Jingfu
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aquatic environment; Dissolved organic matter; Hazard assessment; Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry; Iron oxides; Mass spectrometry; Mass spectroscopy; Nanoparticles; Permanent magnets; Phosphoric acid; Titanium; Titanium dioxide; Water analysis; Water sampling
• ISSN: 2051-8153; 2051-8161
• DOI: 10.1039/d4en00095a

Selectively and efficiently capturing trace titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO 2 NPs) in environmental waters is a prerequisite for their determination to understand their occurrence, behavior and effects in the environment. Herein, we report the determination of TiO 2 NPs by using magnetic microextraction with phosphorylated Fe 3 O 4 as a selective adsorbent, followed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) detection. The phosphorylated Fe 3 O 4 was prepared by modifying phosphoric acid groups on the surface of synthesized Fe 3 O 4 , added into the water samples to selectively adsorb and agglomerate with TiO 2 NPs, and collected using a permanent magnet. Under the optimized extraction parameters, the factors including sizes and concentrations of TiO 2 NPs, volumes of water samples, and dissolved organic matter (0-30 mg C L −1 ) showed little effects on the extraction process. The feasibility of the method was further validated by the analysis of natural water samples, with spiked recoveries of 81.9-99.1% and an extremely low detection limit of 0.4 ng L −1 . This method is capable of accurately detecting and quantifying the concentration of trace TiO 2 NPs in aquatic systems, which contributes to monitoring the fate of TiO 2 NPs in the environment and assessing their hazards. Selectively and efficiently capturing trace titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO 2 NPs) in environmental waters is a prerequisite for their determination to understand their occurrence, behavior and effects in the environment.