Simultaneous Prediction, Determination, and Extraction of Four Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in the Environment Using a UCON-NaH2PO4 Aqueous Two-Phase Extraction System Combined with High-Performance Liquid Chromatography-Ultraviolet Detection

He Chang; Yang Lu; Yantao Sun

doi:10.3390/molecules27196465

Simultaneous Prediction, Determination, and Extraction of Four Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in the Environment Using a UCON-NaH₂PO₄ Aqueous Two-Phase Extraction System Combined with High-Performance Liquid Chromatography-Ultraviolet Detection

Molecules. 2022 Sep 30;27(19):6465. doi: 10.3390/molecules27196465.

Authors

He Chang¹, Yang Lu¹, Yantao Sun²

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Preparation and Application of Environmental Friendly Materials, Jilin Normal University, Siping 136000, China.
² School of Chemistry, Jilin Normal University, 1301 Haifeng Street, Siping 136000, China.

Abstract

In this paper, a new aqueous two-phase extraction system(ATPES) consisting of UCON (poly(ethylene glycol-ran-propylene glycol) monobutyl ether)-NaH₂PO₄ was established, and four trace polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs: fluorene, anthracene, pyrene and phenanthrene) in water and soil were analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)-ultraviolet detection. In the multi-factor experiment, the central composite design (CCD) was used to determine the optimum technological conditions. The final optimal conditions were as follows: the concentration of UCON was 0.45 g·mL^-1, the concentration of NaH₂PO₄ was 3.5 mol·L^-1, and the temperature was 30 °C. The recovery of the four targets was 98.91-99.84% with a relative standard deviation of 0.3-2.1%. Then UCON recycling and cyclic tests were designed in the experiment, and the results showed that the recovery of PAHs gradually increased in the three extractions because of the remaining PAHs in the salt phase of last extraction. The recovery of PAHs in the UCON recycling test was less than that in the extraction test due to the wastage of UCON. In addition, a two-phase aqueous extraction model was established based on the random forest (RF) model. The results obtained were compared with the experimental data, and the root mean square error (RMSE) was 0.0371-0.0514 and the correlation coefficient R² was 96.20-98.53%, proving that the model is robust and reliable.

Keywords: aqueous two-phase separation; determination; high-performance liquid chromatography; polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.

MeSH terms

Anthracenes / analysis
Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid / methods
Ethers
Ethylene Glycols
Fluorenes
Phenanthrenes* / analysis
Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons* / chemistry
Propylene Glycols
Pyrenes
Soil
Solid Phase Extraction / methods
Water / chemistry
Water Pollutants, Chemical* / chemistry

Substances

Anthracenes
Ethers
Ethylene Glycols
Fluorenes
Phenanthrenes
Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons
Propylene Glycols
Pyrenes
Soil
Water Pollutants, Chemical
Water

Grants and funding

This research was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, grant number 21606099, Innovation capacity building Foundation of Jilin Provincial Development and Reform Commission, grant number 2021C038-7, the Natural Science Foundation of Jilin Province, grant numbers 20150520062JH and 20180623042TC, and Science and Technology Research Foundation of Jilin Province Department of Education, grant number JJKH20200422KJ.