Development of a functionalized polymeric ionic liquid monolith for solid-phase microextraction of polar endocrine disrupting chemicals in aqueous samples coupled to high-performance liquid chromatography.

Ionic liquids (ILs) have been efficiently used as a "designer sorbent" in sample preparation. A novel 1-(3-aminopropyl)-3-(4-vinylbenzyl)imidazolium 4-styrenesulfonate IL monomer was synthesized and copolymerized with 1,6-di(3-vinylimidazolium) hexane bishexafluorophosphate IL as cross-linking agent to prepare a cross-linked polymeric ionic liquids (PILs) monolith. Coupled to high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), the PILs monolith was used as a solid-phase microextraction (SPME) sorbent to extract some polar endocrine disrupting chemical (EDCs) such as estrogens, bisphenol A, and phthalate esters in aqueous samples. Preparation and extraction conditions were investigated and optimized to obtain satisfactory extraction efficiency. Limits of detection (LODs) of the proposed method for three steroid estrogens and bisphenol A were 0.25 and 0.2 μg L(-1), respectively, which were lower than or comparable to some other sample preparation methods. Intra- and inter-day repeatability for all the analytes was 2.2-12%. The monolith-to-monolith repeatability was 7.4-15%. The extraction performance of the method for analysis of target estrogens in treated domestic wastewater was investigated and compared with a dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (DLLME) method. The proposed SPME method provided better sensitivity and higher resistance to matrix interferences.