Electrospun polystyrene fibers knitted around imprinted acrylate microspheres as sorbent for paraben derivatives

• Published in: Analytica chimica acta 2018-07, Vol.1014, p.1-9
• Main Authors: Demirkurt, M., Olcer, Y.A., Demir, M.M., Eroglu, A.E.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Chemical analysis; Chemical synthesis; Coated fibers; Coatings; Electrospinning; Endocrine disruptors; Fiber coatings; Fibers; Food production; High pressure liquid chromatography; Imprinted polymers; Knitting; Microspheres; Molecular chains; Molecular imprinted polymers; Parabens; Polymers; Polystyrene; Polystyrene fibers; Polystyrene resins; Preservatives; Propyl paraben; Seawater; Selectivity; Solid phase methods; Solid phase micro-extraction; Sorbents; Water analysis; Water sampling
• ISSN: 0003-2670; 1873-4324
• DOI: 10.1016/j.aca.2018.02.016

Parabens are used as antimicrobial preservatives in food, cosmetic products and pharmaceuticals regardless of their endocrine disrupting effect. In this study, highly selective molecular imprinted polymers (MIPs) were synthesized in submicron-sizes and converted to an SPME fiber coating through electrospinning process in order to determine parabens in water samples. Conversion of MIP to a fiber is achieved via creation of spacial knitting around MIP by polystyrene. The selectivity and extraction ability of the fibers were compared with the commercial fibers and the corresponding non-imprinted polymer (NIP) coated fiber. The coated fiber showed better extraction ability among them. Also, the results revealed that the fiber has better selectivity for benzyl paraben and the other structurally-related compounds, such as methyl and propyl paraben. Extraction efficiency of prepared fibers for three parabens has been tested by spiking bottled, tap and sea water samples. The recoveries changed between 92.2 ± 0.8 and 99.8 ± 0.1 for three different water types. This method could be used for selective and sensitive determination of parabens in aqueous samples. [Display omitted] •In this study, a novel SPME fiber has been suggested for a specific recognition sites to parabens.•In the fiber, a molecularly imprinted polymer microspheres prepared with benzyl paraben as the template was electrospun on the tip of a fiber.•The fiber has been shown to be selective to the analyte molecules.