Determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in Persian Gulf and Caspian Sea: gold nanoparticles fiber for a head space solid phase micro extraction.

A gold nanoparticles modified fused silica fiber was developed and used for the head space solid phase micro-extraction (HS-SPME) of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), including naphthalene, anthracene, acenaphthylene, phenanthrene, fluoranthene and pyrene. The effects of different parameters influencing the extraction efficiency including extraction temperature, extraction time, ionic strength, stirring rate and sample volume were examined and optimized. Linear ranges of 1-300 μg L(-1) for naphthalene, 0.5-250 μg L(-1) for anthracene, acenaphthylene and phenanthrene and 0.05-200 μg L(-1) for fluoranthene and pyrene were obtained. Detection limits were in the range of 10-200 μg L(-1). Single fiber repeatability and fiber to fiber reproducibility were less than 2.5 %-6.0 % and 8.5 %-13.6 %, respectively. Seawater samples were analyzed as real samples and good recoveries (91.9 %-105.3 %) were obtained for target analytes.