Hydroxyl‐rich ferrofluid for efficient liquid phase microextraction of cinnamic acid derivatives in traditional Chinese medicine

In this study, a hydroxyl‐rich ferrofluid was prepared by dispersing silica‐coated magnetic nanoparticles into a methyltrioctylammonium chloride‐glycerol deep eutectic solvent and then employed in the preconcentration of trace‐level of cinnamic acid derivatives (caffeic acid, p ‐hydroxycinnamic acid, ferulic acid, and cinnamic acid) in traditional Chinese medicine prior to high‐performance liquid chromatography analysis. The structures of the synthesized materials were characterized by X‐ray diffraction and infrared spectroscopy. The experimental parameters affecting the extraction performance, such as deep eutectic solvent composition, dosage of ferrofluid, pH of aqueous sample solution, salt concentration, extraction time, type, and volume of desorption solvent, were studied and optimized. Under the optimum conditions, the enrichment factors of four cinnamic acid derivatives were in the range of 107–114. Low detection limits (0.2–0.9 ng/mL), good precisions (relative standard deviations 1.2%–9.5%), and satisfactory recoveries (96.0%–104.7%) were achieved. Subsequently, the possible microextraction mechanism of the proposed method was explored and elucidated. It showed that the prepared ferrofluid is easily dispersed in the aqueous sample and achieved recovery after the extraction. The developed approach is a simple, convenient, and efficient method for preconcentration and determination of cinnamic acid derivatives in complex matrices.