New solid phase microextraction fiber based on an eggshell membrane coating for determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

Abstract

In this work, we introduced a novel soluble eggshell membrane protein (SEP) coating for the fabrication of a solid phase microextraction (SPME) fiber for the first time. The SPME fiber based on SEP (SEP-fiber) was prepared using a glass tube by the simple dip-coating method. The eggshell membrane and its solubilized form, SEP, were characterized by scanning electron microscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). The key parameters influencing the extraction efficiency were optimized. The performance of the SEP-fiber was evaluated by extraction of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) as model analytes prior to determination by HPLC-UV. Under the optimal conditions, the linearity responses for the PAHs were in the range 0.001–400 μg L⁻¹ with determination coefficients (R²) of 0.996–0.999 and good repeatability (RSD ≤ 6.3%). The proposed method showed lower limits of detection of 0.2–47.3 ng L⁻¹, which are better than those reported in the literature. The SEP-fiber exhibited good extraction capability and stability under acidic and basic conditions, and was easy to fabricate, cost effective and environmentally friendly, which makes it attractive when compared to other commercial SPME fibers. The SEP-fiber was successfully used for the analysis of spiked water samples demonstrating its capability in routine environmental analysis.