Application of poly(dimethylsiloxane) fiber sol-gel coated onto NiTi alloy electrodeposited with zirconium oxide for the determination of organochlorine pesticides in herbal infusions.

A PDMS fiber sol-gel coated onto an NiTi alloy previously electrodeposited with zirconium oxide (named NiTi-ZrO(2)-PDMS) was applied to the determination of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) in infusions of peppermint (Mentha piperita L.), lemon grass (Cymbopogon citratus Stapf), chamomile (Matricaria recutita L.), lemon balm (Melissa officinalis L.), and anise seeds (Pimpinella anisum L.). Salting-out effect, extraction time, and extraction temperature were optimized firstly by means of a full-factorial design and then using a Doehlert matrix. No salt addition and 50 min of extraction at 70 degrees C were the optimum conditions. Satisfactory LODs in the range of 2-17 ng/L, as well as good correlation coefficients (at least 0.9981) in the linear range studied, were obtained. Calibration was successfully applied using an infusion of M. recutita L. and recovery tests were performed to ensure the accuracy of the method, with values in the range of 77-120%. Comparison of the NiTi-ZrO(2)-PDMS with commercially available PDMS fibers showed that the proposed fiber has an extraction efficiency comparable to that of PDMS 30 microm for the compounds evaluated, demonstrating its potential applicability.