Algal toxins are secondary metabolites produced by harmful algae; these metabolites are characterized with strong toxicity, diverse structure and bioaccumulation. Aquatic organisms that feed on harmful algae can accumulate algal toxins in their bodies, and the consumption of these organisms by humans can cause symptoms of paralysis, diarrhea, and even death. The onset of poisoning can occur within as little as 30 min; in many cases, no suitable antidote for algal toxins is available. Thus, algal toxins present significant threats to human health, the aquaculture industry, and aquatic ecosystems. Because the potential risks of algal toxins are a critical issue, these toxins have become a research hotspot. The water environment and various types of aquatic products should be monitored and analyzed to ensure their safety. However, because of possible matrix effects and the low content of algal toxins in actual samples, an efficient pretreatment method is necessary prior to instrumental analyses. Efficient sample pretreatment techniques can not only reduce or eliminate interferences from the sample matrix during analysis but also enrich the target analytes to meet the detection limit of the analytical instrument, thereby ensuring the sensitivity and accuracy of the detection method. In recent years, sample pretreatment techniques such as solid-phase extraction (SPE), solid-phase microextraction (SPME), magnetic SPE (MSPE), dispersive SPE (DSPE), and pipette tip-based SPE (PT-SPE) have gained wide attention in the field of algal-toxin separation and analysis. The performance of these pretreatment techniques largely depends on the characteristics of the extraction materials. Given the diverse physicochemical properties of algal toxins, including their different molecular sizes, hydrophobicity/hydrophilicity, and charges, the design and preparation of materials suitable for algal-toxin extraction is an essential undertaking. The optimal extraction material should be capable of reversible algal-toxin adsorption and preferably possess a porous structure with a large surface area to allow for high recovery rates and good interfacial contact with the toxins. Additionally, the extraction material should exhibit good chemical stability in the sample solution and elution solvent within the working pH range; otherwise, it may dissolve or lose its functional groups. Many research efforts have sought to develop novel adsorbent materials with these properties in the separation and analysis of algal toxins, focusing on carbon-based materials, metal organic frameworks (MOFs), covalent organic frameworks (COFs), molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs), and their functionalized counterparts. Carbon-based materials, MOFs, and COFs have advantages such as large surface areas and abundant adsorption sites. These extraction materials are widely used in the separation and analysis of target substances in complex environmental, biological, and food samples owing to their excellent performance and unique microstructure. They are also the main adsorbents used for the extraction of algal toxins. These extraction materials play an essential role in the extraction of algal toxins, but they also present a number of limitations: (1) Carbon-based materials, MOFs, and COFs have relatively poor selective-adsorption ability towards target substances; (2) Most MOFs are unstable in aqueous solutions and challenging to apply during extraction from water-based sample solutions; (3) COFs mainly consist of lightweight elements, rendering them difficult to completely separate from sample solutions using centrifugal force, which limits their application range; (4) Although MIPs have good selectivity, issues such as template-molecule loss, slow mass-transfer rates, and low adsorption capacity must be addressed. Therefore, the design and preparation of novel functionalized extraction materials specifically tailored for algal toxins and studies on new composite extraction materials are highly desirable. This article collects representative literature from domestic and international research on algal-toxin analysis over the past decade, summarizes the relevant findings, categorizes the applications of novel functional materials in algal-toxin-extraction processes, and provides an outlook on their future development prospects.
藻毒素为有害藻类所产生的次级代谢产物,具有毒性强、种类多和生物蓄积性等特点,对人类健康、水产养殖业以及水生生态系统都会造成严重的威胁,已成为当前全球范围的研究热点。由于藻毒素在样品中的含量很低、样品基质复杂等因素,在仪器分析前进行有效的样品前处理不可或缺。高效的样品前处理技术不但能够减小或去除样品基质对分析的干扰,而且可以实现目标物的富集,增加分析方法的灵敏度与准确性。近年来,固相萃取(SPE)、固相微萃取(SPME)、磁性固相萃取(MSPE)、分散固相萃取(DSPE)、吸管尖端固相萃取(PT-SPE)等样品前处理技术已在藻毒素分离分析领域广受关注。这些前处理技术性能的好坏主要取决于萃取材料的特性。由于藻毒素的理化特性各不相同,在分子尺寸、亲疏水性、电荷等性质上差异较大,合理设计并制备适合藻毒素萃取的材料十分必要。最佳的萃取材料必须实现对藻毒素的可逆吸附,并且最好具有多孔结构和高的比表面积,从而能够提供高的回收率和与藻毒素良好的界面接触。此外,萃取材料还应该在样品溶液、洗脱溶剂、工作pH范围内具有良好的化学稳定性,否则萃取材料可能会溶解或丢失其官能团。本文综述了近十几年来国内外关于藻毒素分析检测研究的主要代表性文献,对新型功能材料在藻毒素萃取过程中的应用进行了梳理归纳,并对其发展前景予以展望。
Keywords: algal toxins; carbon-based material; covalent organic framework (COF); metal organic framework (MOF); molecularly imprinted polymer; review.