Novel combined stir bar sorptive extraction coupled with ultrasonic assisted extraction for the determination of brominated flame retardants in environmental samples using high performance liquid chromatography

A combined stir bar coated with poly (dimethysiloxane)-β-cyclodextrin (PDMS-β-CD) on single side has been prepared for the first time by sol–gel method and was coupled with ultrasonic assisted extraction (UAE) for the determination of some brominated flame-retardant compounds (BFRs) in soil and dust samples by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Four different kinds of coatings including PDMS-β-CD, PDMS, carbowax (CW)-PDMS-poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and PDMS-PVA were evaluated for stir bar sorptive extraction of BFRs by orthogonal experiment design. The experimental results reveal that the PDMS-β-CD combined stir bar exhibited the best extraction efficiency for the target analytes. The reproducibility for the preparation of PDMS-β-CD combined stir bar ranged from 1.3% to 15.7% in one batch, and 7.2% to 15.1% among batches. Extraction time, desorption solvent, concentration of methanol and NaCl in the matrix, pH, temperature and stirring speed were optimized. The combined stir bar can avoid direct friction of the coating with the bottom of the vessel, and could be used for more than 100 times. Linearity (>0.993), repeatability (<10.5%), reproducibility (<16.5%), recovery (56–118%) and detection limits (2.9–4.2 μg L−1) were proper to determine the seven BFRs. The developed method was applied to the determination of BFRs in soil and dust with satisfactory results.