A core–shell titanium dioxide polyaniline nanocomposite for the needle‐trap extraction of volatile organic compounds in urine samples

Abstract

We synthesized a titanium dioxide-polyaniline core-shell nanocomposite and implemented it as an efficient sorbent for the needle-trap extraction of some volatile organic compounds from urine samples. Polyaniline was synthesized, in the form of the emeraldine base, dissolved in dimethyl acetamide followed by diluting with water at pH 2.8, using the interfacial polymerization method. The TiO nanoparticles were encapsulated inside the conducting polymer shell, by adapting the in situ dispersing approach. The surface characteristics of the nanocomposite were investigated by Fourier transform infrared spectrometry, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. After obtaining acceptable preliminary results, some selected volatile compounds, including chloroform, benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylene, and chlorobenzenes were used as model analytes to validate the enrichment properties of the prepared sorbent in conjunction with gas chromatography mass spectrometric detection. Important parameters influencing the extraction process such as extraction temperature, ionic strength, sampling flow rate, extraction time, desorption temperature, and time were optimized. The limits of detection and limits of quantification values were in the range of 0.5-3 and 2-5 ng/L, respectively, using time-scheduled selected ion monitoring mode. The relative standard deviation percent with three replicates was in the range of 5-10%. The applicability of the developed needle-trap method was examined by analyzing urine samples and the relative recovery percentages for the spiked samples were in the range of 81-105%.

Influence of titanium dioxide nanoparticles on the structural, thermal, electrical properties, and gas sensing behavior of polyaniline/phenothiazine blend nanocomposites

“…During the last few decades, electrical and thermal properties of conducting polymer filled with metal nanoparticles received much attention due to its potential applications in molecular sensors, electromagnetic shielding materials, microelectronic, and nonlinear optical devices . Among the conducting polymers, polyaniline (PANI) gave much interest to the researchers because of its higher conductivity, cost‐effectiveness, easy synthesis, and environmental stability .…”

A review of new adsorbents for separation of BTEX biomarkers

“…In order to overcome a number of the drawbacks in the use of commercial and conventional fibers to adsorb BTEX biomarkers in the headspace process, new adsorbents with high selectivity have been recently developed to extract target analytes in aqueous samples and remove interference compounds, thereby overcoming the drawbacks of using commercial and conventional fibers to adsorb BTEX biomarkers in the headspace process. The proposed new fibers based on nanomicrons and the application of graphene can increase the selectivity of the adsorbent surface significantly and increase the equilibrium time in the extraction mode in the headspace of solutions to separate BTEX compounds (Banihashemi & Bagheri, 2017; Yousefi et al, 2018; Zhang et al, 2015). The Bucky graphene gene and ionic liquid can adsorb BTEX compounds in the headspace of urine samples.…”

“…Recently, the needle trap method has been used to sample volatile compounds in urine and breath with three new sorbents, including single‐wall carbon nanotube (SW‐CNT) mix to sol–gel adsorbent (Zeverdegani, Bahrami, Rismanchian, & Shahna, 2014; Zeverdegani, Bahrami, Shahna, et al, 2014), titanium dioxide–polyaniline core–shell nanocomposite (Banihashemi & Bagheri, 2017) and metal organic frameworks (MOFs) (Saedi et al, 2020).…”

Synthesis, characterization, gas sensing, and electrical property evaluation of polyaniline/copper‐alumina nanocomposites

“…Commonly used inorganic nano‐fillers for the reinforcement of conducting polymers are mainly metal oxides and metal sulfides. The polymer/metal oxide nanocomposites are of greatest interest as their magnetic, electrical, thermal, catalytic, and sensing properties are on the upper side . These composites find their application in batteries, fuel cells, piezoelectric devices, catalyst, and so on.…”