Influence of concentration and sample volume on the recovery of compounds from water following direct sorption on Tenax TA–thermal desorption

Abstract

Thermal desorption of organic compounds following their direct sorption on Tenax TA from water is described. A simple and fast method of cartridge drying after sorption is presented. The optimum drying conditions proposed were a temperature of 80 °C and a flow rate of 60 cm³ min^–1. The recoveries determined for sample volumes of 5, 10 and 100 cm³ and analyte masses on the sorbent bed of 2–100 ng of toluene, chlorobenzene and m-xylene were found to be 63, 73 and 78%, respectively. The results show that recoveries do not depend on the concentrations and volumes of the investigated samples.