Analytical Sciences

Polyethylene Terephthalate Nanofiber Sheet as the Novel Extraction Medium for the Determination of Phthalates in Water Samples

Ikuo UETA,* Naho SEKIGUCHI,** Akihiro SUZUKI,* Yuta KOBAYASHI,* Tetsuo KUWABARA,* and Yoshihiro SAITO**

*Department of Applied Chemistry, University of Yamanashi, 4-3-11 Takeda, Kofu 400-8511, Japan
**Department of Applied Chemistry and Life Science, Toyohashi University of Technology, 1-1 Hibarigaoka, Tempaku, Toyohashi 441-8580, Japan

A novel extraction medium was developed by packing polyethylene terephthalate (PET) nanofiber sheet having a diameter of 500 nm into a stainless-steel capillary of 0.8 mm inner diameter. The nanofiber was prepared by a carbon dioxide (CO₂) laser supersonic multi-drawing method, which has a significantly higher surface area than the original PET fiber. A nanofiber sheet was prepared by winding the nanofibers. Extraction of phthalates in water samples by a PET nanofiber-packed extraction capillary was investigated using a conventional high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Water samples were introduced into the extraction capillary with a low pressure. After extracting the water sample, the extraction capillary was directly connected to a six-port valve of HPLC with a PEEK nut, and the extracted analytes were desorbed, followed by injection to an HPLC system using a small amount of organic solvent. In this manuscript, the fundamental performance of the nanofiber sheet-packed extraction capillary for the extraction of organic compounds in water samples is quantitatively evaluated using a conventional HPLC system.

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