Preparation of a polar monolithic coating for stir bar sorptive extraction of emerging contaminants from wastewaters

A new polar monolith based on poly(poly(ethylene glycol) methacrylate-co-pentaerythritol triacrylate) (poly(PEGMA-co-PETRA)) was first synthesised, after the optimisation of the polymerisation conditions, and applied as a coating for the stir bar sorptive extraction (SBSE) of a group of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) from environmental water samples. Several parameters affecting extraction and liquid desorption in SBSE were investigated to achieve the optimal sorption efficiencies for the studied analytes. Under the optimised experimental conditions, a rapid, simple and sensitive SBSE performance was provided by the in-house monolithic stir bar. Moreover, the in-house coating was able to extract and desorb most of the studied analytes more effectively and quickly, due to its polar behaviour and suitable mechanical and physical properties, in comparison with the recently commercialised polar stir bars (EG Silicone Twister® and Acrylate Twister®). The analytical methodology, including SBSE followed by liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS), was validated and successfully applied for the determination of a group of PPCPs in wastewater samples.