Modified zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 as solid-phase microextraction Arrow coating for sampling of amines in wastewater and food samples followed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

In this study, a novel solid phase microextration (SPME) Arrow was prepared for the sampling of volatile low molecular weight alkylamines (trimethylamine (TMA) and triethylamine (TEA)) in wastewater, salmon and mushroom samples before gas chromatographic separation with mass spectrometer as detector. Acidified zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (A-ZIF-8) was utilized as adsorbent and poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) as the adhesive. The custom SPME Arrow was fabricated via a physical adhesion: (1) ZIF-8 particles were suspended in a mixture of tetrahydrofuran (THF) and PVC to form a homogeneous suspension, (2) a non-coated stainless steel SPME Arrow was dipped in the ZIF-8/PVC suspension for several times to obtain a uniform and thick coating, (3) the pore size of ZIF-8 was modified by headspace exposure to hydrochloric acid in order to increase the extraction efficiency for amines. The effect of ZIF-8 concentration in PVC solution, dipping cycles and aging temperature on extraction efficiency was investigated. In addition, sampling parameters such as NaCl concentration, sample volume, extraction time, potassium hydroxide concentration, desorption temperature and desorption time were optimized. The Arrow-to-Arrow reproducibilities (RSDs) for five ZIF-8 coated Arrows were 15.6% and 13.3% for TMA and TEA, respectively. The extraction with A-ZIF-8/PVC Arrow was highly reproducible for at least 130 cycles without noticeable decrease of performance (RSD < 12.5%). Headspace SPME of 7.5 mL sample solution with the fabricated ZIF-8 coated Arrow achieved linear ranges of 1–200 ng mL⁻¹ for both TMA and TEA. The limit of quantitation (LOQ) was 1 ng mL⁻¹ for both TMA and TEA. The method was successfully applied to the determination of TMA and TEA in wastewater, salmon and mushroom samples giving satisfactory selectivity towards the studied amines.