Analytical Sciences

Performance Evaluation of an Electrospun Nanofiber Mat as Samplers for the Trap of Trace Heavy Metals in Atmospheric Particles and Its Application

Guozhe DENG,*1 Xiaoyan DENG,*2 Jianjun DENG,*3 Xiaoting LU,*4 Xuejun KANG,*1 and Yuan SONG*4

*1 Key Laboratory of Child Development and Learning Science of Ministry of Education of China, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China
*2 Geological Survey of Jiangsu Province, Nanjing 210080, China
*3 Suzhou Dongqi Biological Technology Co., Ltd, Suzhou 215123, China
*4 Division of Child Care, Suzhou Municipal Hospital, Suzhou, Jiangsu 215002, China

Traditional methods for the analysis of trace heavy metals in the atmosphere require collecting atmospheric particles on filter substrates, such as cellulose, quartz fiber member, etc. In this paper, we report on a different filter to capture trace heavy metals in atmospheric particulates. Four kinds of electrospun nanofiber filters, polystyrene (PS), polystyrene-dithizone (PS-DZ), acrylic acid (AR), and acrylic acid-dithizone (AR-DZ) were produced by electrospinning, and used as filters to trap heavy metals in atmospheric particles. Based on these nanofiber filters, the digestion method and eluent were optimized. Under the optimal conditions (oscillation extraction with acetic acid–potassium acetate (HAC–KAC) buffer solution (0.1 mol L⁻¹, pH = 4.5)), the developed method was successfully applied to determine the four particulate metal elements (As, Cd, Hg, and Pb) in air in two urban areas of Suzhou, China. Furthermore, a correlation between heavy metals in air and breast milk was observed. The results confirmed that an electrospun nanofiber mat could be a potential candidate for the sampling of heavy metals in atmospheric particles with higher efficiency.

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