Fluorinated magnetic porous carbons for dispersive solid-phase extraction of perfluorinated compounds.

Novel magnetic and fluorinated porous carbons (M-FPCs) with high fluorine content, large pore volume and specific surface area were first prepared by carbonizing and further fluorinating Fe-Zr bimetal-organic frameworks. The M-FPCs exhibit excellent adsorption performance toward perfluorinated compounds (PFCs), and the maximal adsorption capacity ranges from 518.1 to 919.3 mg g-1 for various PFCs. Based on this property, an environmental analytical method of dispersive solid-phase extraction (DSPE) using M-FPCs as adsorbents coupled with ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS) was developed for the detection of trace PFCs. The linear range was as wide as 10-200 ng L-1, and low limit of detection (0.02-0.16 ng L-1) and good precision (relative standard deviation less than 6.11% for intra-day and inter-day) were achieved. This method was applied to the detection of trace PFCs in environmental water and soil samples with satisfactory results.

Study of the Unique Characteristics of Multi-Elements of the Wild Astragali Radix from Shanxi Province by Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry.

BACKGROUND: Astragali Radix (AR) is widely used because of its dual use in medicine and food. Wild Astragali Radix from Hunyuan county of Shanxi province in China is accepted as a geo-authentic medicine with high quality and good medicinal effects. Multi-elements of Astragali Radix partially reflect its efficacy and safety. However, there has been no systemic research about the elemental analysis of geo-authentic Astragali Radix until now. OBJECTIVE: In this paper, multi-elemental profiling of Astragali Radix from Gansu, Jilin, Inner Mongolia, Shaanxi and Shanxi provinces in China was carried out. METHODS: A microwave digestion coupled with inductively coupled plasma-MS (ICP-MS), principal component analysis (PCA), and partial-least square-discriminate analysis (PLS-DA) were used for analysis of the unique elemental accumulation ability of Shanxi wild AR. RESULTS: Compared to the samples from Gansu, Jilin, Inner Mongolia, Shaanxi provinces, and the cultivated samples from Shanxi, for 53 stably detected elements, the concentrations of most elements (Ba, Cs, Ga, La, Pr, and so on) were significantly higher while a few (Cd, Cu, P, W and Zn) were significantly lower in wild Astragali Radix from Shanxi. After binary logistic regression, combinational variable Ba-P was found to be a good marker to distinguish wild Astragali Radix of Shanxi province from the samples with other origins, and the total positive prediction probability of the test samples, both bought from the market and gathered from their original field, could reach 93.8% through external validation using the model. CONCLUSION: Multi-elemental analysis coupled with PCA, PLS-DA, nonparametric analysis and binary logistic regression can be a good tool for the identification of wild Astragali Radix from Shanxi province. HIGHLIGHTS: An ICP-MS method was developed and validated for multi-elements. Fifty-three elements in Astragali Radix from samples with different origins were compared. The wild Astragali Radix from Shanxi had unique elemental characteristics. Combinational variable Ba-P is a good marker to identify wild AR from Shanxi.

Preparation of fluorinated covalent organic polymers at room temperature for removal and detection of perfluorinated compounds.

Covalent organic polymers (COPs) are promising adsorbents for the removal and detection of various types of pollutants. However, the preparation of COPs that exhibit uniform dispersion and good appearance at room temperature is challenging. Herein, fluorinated covalent organic polymers (F-COPs) with different morphologies were synthesized through the Schiff base reaction of 4,4-diamino-p-terphenyl (DT) and 2,3,5,6-tetrafluoroterephthalaldehyde (TFA). The as-prepared F-COPs could selectively adsorb perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) owing to their fluoro-affinity, hydrophobicity, hydrogen bonding, and electrostatic attraction. The adsorption kinetics and isotherm simulation results showed that the adsorption process conformed to the second-order kinetics and the Langmuir model. The saturated adsorption capacity calculated by the Langmuir model was found to be 323-667 mg/g. The F-COPs were applied to the treatment of simulated fluorine industrial wastewater, and the PFC removal efficiencies of 92.3-100.0% were achieved. Moreover, ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS) was conducted for the detection of trace-level PFCs using F-COPs as dispersive solid-phase extraction (DSPE) adsorbents. The limits of detection were 0.05-0.13 ng/L and the limits of quantification were 0.17-0.43 ng/L. This study facilitates the synthesis of COPs at room temperature and extends the application of COPs as pretreated materials for environmental remediation and detection.