Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are an important group of organic compounds because their simple synthesis and positive reaction properties make them the starting point for the synthesis of many more complex compounds. However, many studies have shown the negative properties of PAHs, as many polyaromatic compounds have been shown to be endocrine disruptors, mutagens and carcinogens. Their widespread occurence and their negative effects on the environment, as well as on the living organisms in it, are the reasons to investigate and analyse these organic pollutants. PAHs are a major environmental problem, particularly in the sea, where they can migrate uncontrollably and damage organisms. It is because of their reactivity and rapid migration between ecosystems that I dedicated my thesis to the optimisation of a solid-phase extraction method for five polyaromatic compounds: naphthalene, acenaphthene, 2-naphthol, 2,7-naphthalenediol and acenaphtoquinone.
The aim of the thesis was to find the optimal extraction conditions for the polyaromatics listed. I checked which sorbent is suitable, how the extraction efficiency is affected by pH and the presence of neutral salt in the sample, and I tested extraction parameters such as elution solvent and its volume and breakthrough volume in order to find the highest extraction efficiency.
The experiment showed that the C8 (Supelco) extraction column is the most suitable for the extraction of PAHs. The choice of elution solvent and its volume gave the best yield when 4 mL of 100% acetonitrile was used, while the shape of the peaks in the HPLC chromatogram was optimal when the eluate was diluted with Milli-Q water in the ratio ACN : Milli-Q = 70 : 30. Changing the pH value of the input sample did not change the yield, while the addition of a neutral salt (NaCl) increased the extraction yield by a few %. The final recoveries of the method for the parent polyaromatics (naphthalene, acenaphthene) were between 47% and 65%, while for the degradation products (acenaphthoquinone, 2-naphthol, 2,7-naphthalenediol) recoveries were between 85% and 110%.
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