Graphene nanoplatelets as a highly efficient solid-phase extraction sorbent for determination of phthalate esters in aqueous solution

Graphene nanoplatelet (GN) as a solid-phase extraction (SPE) sorbent in combination with high performance liquid chromatography has been used for the determination of five phthalate esters (PAEs) in aqueous solution. The operation parameters affecting the extraction efficiency were optimized. Comparative studies showed that GN was superior to other common SPE sorbents in terms of recovery and adsorption capacity. Under optimization conditions, detection limits of 0.09–0.33 ng mL−1 were achieved for five PAEs and enrichment factors of 402–711 for the analytes were obtained. The proposed method was successfully applied for the determination of PAEs in tap water and drink samples with recoveries ranging from 87.7% to 100.9%.