Coating of optical fiber with a smart thermosensitive polymer for the separation of phthalate esters by solid-phase microextraction.

A solid-phase microextraction fiber was prepared by coating an optical fiber with a temperature-sensitive polymer to determine phthalate esters. N-Isopropylacrylamide and N,N'-methylenebisacrylamide were used as the monomer and the cross linker, respectively. The fabricated fiber was characterized by FTIR spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, and scanning electron microscopy. During extraction, important factors such as extraction time, pH, temperature, and ionic strength were optimized. The fabricated fiber, which is firm, inexpensive, stable, and efficient, is a vital material used in solid-phase microextraction. Under optimum conditions, the calibration curve was linear and in the range of 1-20 μg/L (r2  = 0.9747). The high extraction efficiency was obtained for phthalates with a detection limit of 0.12 μg/L. The fabricated fiber was successfully applied to the solid-phase micro extraction of phthalates from water samples after its extraction, followed by gas chromatography with flame ionization detection.