Bimetallic nanoflower MOF-derived magnetic porous carbon for extraction and quantitative analysis of phthalate esters in environmental water samples.

Abstract

A novel bimetallic nanoflower metal-organic framework (MOF) material, Zn/Ni-MOF-74, was synthesized through a polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP)-mediated regulation strategy. Subsequently, nanoflower-like magnetic ZnO@Ni/NiO@C was prepared via high-temperature carbonization. This material, as an adsorbent, combined with high-performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet detection (HPLC-UV) technology, is used for the extraction and quantitative analysis of phthalate esters (PAEs) in environmental water samples by retention time qualitative analysis and external standard method quantification. The adsorption process mainly involves hydrophobic interactions, π-π stacking and hydrogen bonding interactions, achieving rapid mass transfer and efficient adsorption. When ZnO@Ni/NiO@C-400 was used as the adsorbent, the limits of detection (LODs) and limits of quantification (LOQs) for the five kinds of PAEs in the established methodology ranged from 0.025 to 0.060 μg L-1 and 0.08 to 0.20 μg L-1, respectively. Using tap water, lake water and Yellow River water as actual samples for analysis, no PAEs were detected in the blank samples. The spiked recovery rates ranged from 93.23% to 105.99%, verifying the applicability of the method. Furthermore, ZnO@Ni/NiO@C-400 demonstrated excellent reusability, maintaining a recovery rate of 84.04% after 10 cycles of reuse. This study presents a preparation strategy for a nanoflower MOF-derived magnetic carbon adsorbent and provides a methodological reference for the subsequent trace analysis and monitoring of PAEs in environmental water samples.