Stir-bar sorptive extraction and thermal desorption-ion mobility spectrometry for the determination of trinitrotoluene and l,3,5-trinitro-l,3,5-triazine in water samples.
Stir-bar sorptive extraction (SBSE) is interfaced to ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) for the rapid detection of trace analytes, with the explosives, trinitrotoluene (TNT) and l,3,5-trinitro-l,3,5-triazine (RDX) shown as examples. SBSE retains its inherent advantages as a sensitive, straightforward, solventless, and inexpensive method. Additionally, the new SBSE-IMS technique exhibits excellent sensitivity, has onsite field analysis capabilities and provides the potential to detect and quantitate analytes that are difficult to accomplish using gas chromatography (GC) or high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The SBSE-IMS technique is shown to be an effective method for the low-level detection of TNT and RDX from water with method standard deviation of 8.6% for TNT and 6.6% for RDX. The short desorption time of 60 s and analysis time of less than 20 ms along with limits of detection of 0.1 ng/mL for TNT and 1.5 ng/mL for RDX and render the method potentially useful for trace analysis. Desorption profiles showing the kinetics of analyte transfer from the stir-bar into the IMS are shown and discussed; the SBSE-IMS configuration shows very rapid desorption from the stir-bar, with the analytes completely transferred in most cases, in under 1 min.
Lokhnauth
John K
JK
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Seton Hall University, 400 South Orange Avenue, South Orange, NJ 07079, USA.
Snow
Nicholas H
NH
D005591:Chemical Fractionation / Q000379:methods*; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods; D013053:Spectrophotometry / Q000379:methods*; D014227:Triazines / Q000032:analysis*; D014303:Trinitrotoluene / Q000032:analysis*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*
D014227:Triazines; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D014303:Trinitrotoluene; C009160:cyclonite