MXene/reduced graphene oxide hydrogel film extraction combined with gas chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry for the determination of 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in river and tap water

In this study, MXene/reduced graphene oxide (MXene/rGO) hydrogel film, a novel nanomaterial was prepared and used as adsorbent for extraction of 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in river and tap water prior to gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometric analysis (GC-MS/MS). The properties of MXene/rGO hydrogel film were characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-ray diffractometer (XRD). The PAHs in water samples were enriched with MXene/rGO, then eluted with n-hexane, finally separated with HP-5MS column (30 m × 0.32 mm, 0.25 μm), and finally detected by mass spectrometer with SIM mode. The method had linear ranges of 0.005-2.00 μg/L with the correlation coefficients greater than 0.995. The recoveries of the method ranged from 80.3% to 109.9%, with the relative standard deviations (RSDs) less than 10.01%. The limits of detection (LODs) were less than 0.005 μg/L. The method is simple, sensitive, precise, accurate, environmentally-friendly and it has been successfully applied to the determination of 16 PAHs in river and tap water samples.