Sol–gel-coated oligomers as novel stationary phases for solid-phase microextraction

Amphiphilic and hydrophilic oligomers were synthesized and coated on fused silica capillaries using a sol–gel technique. Sol–gel-coated capillaries were evaluated for the solid-phase microextraction and preconcentration of a wide variety of non-polar and polar analytes. Both types of coatings were stable under high temperature (up to 280 °C). The extraction efficiency of the sol–gel coatings was evaluated for the extraction of both non-polar and polar analytes, including organochlorine pesticides, triazine herbicides, estrogens and alkylphenols (APs) and bisphenol-A (BPA). Compared with commercially available solid-phase microextraction (SPME) adsorbents such as poly(dimethylsiloxane)-divenylbenzene and polyacrylate, the new materials showed comparable selectivity and sensitivity towards both non-polar and polar analytes. The new coatings gave good linearity and detection limits. For example with triazines, a detection limit of <0.005 μl l−1, precision from 5.0 to 11.0% (n = 6) and linearity of the calibration plots (0.5 to 50 μl l−1) were obtained. The sol–gel coated SPME capillaries were used for the determination of triazine herbicides in reservoir water samples collected in Singapore.