Electropolymerized Polyaniline on Electrospun Silica Nanofibers to Prepare an SPME Fiber for the Sampling of Linear Alkylbenzenes

An organic-inorganic polyaniline-silica (PANI/SiO₂) nanocomposite was synthesized through a combination of electrospinning and in-situ polymerization. This synthetic strategy effectively minimized PANI aggregation during polymerization, resulting in a higher yield and improved structural uniformity. Taking advantage of these enhanced properties, the nanocomposite was electrodeposited onto a stainless-steel wire and employed as an efficient sorbent for the extraction of linear alkylbenzenes (LABs) via headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME), followed by analysis using gas chromatography coupled with flame ionization detection (GC-FID). The structure and morphology of the synthesized sorbent were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) techniques. Response surface methodology (RSM) involving central composite design (CCD) was employed to evaluate the important experimental variables. Under the optimal conditions, linear dynamic ranges (LDRs) were in the range of 0.05-12 ng mL-1 for Φ-C11 (undecylbenzene) and Φ-C13 (tridecylbenzene), 0.02-12 ng mL-1 for Φ-C12 (dodecylbenzene) and Φ-C14 (tetradecylbenzene) with regression coefficient greater than 0.99. The limits of detection (LODs) were found to be 0.007-0.015 ng mL- 1. The developed HS-SPME-GC-FID method was successfully applied for extraction and determination of LABs in water and wastewater samples.