Etched hollow periodic mesoporous organosilica with enlarged pore size for high-performance solid phase microextraction of polybrominated biphenyls

Hollow mesoporous silica has attracted increasing attention due to its outstanding characteristics such as low density, large void, mesoporous channel, and large specific surface area. Herein, a kind of etched hollow periodic mesoporous organosilica (EHPMOS) with enlarged mesopore size was successfully synthesized for high-performance solid phase microextraction (SPME). The etched silica material was prepared as a SPME fiber with uniform morphology, and the enrichment capacities for polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs) were systematically studied. In particular, the EHPMOS showed significant enrichment factors (158–9516) for PBBs. In addition, based on the home-made SPME fiber and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC–MS), an ultra-sensitive analytical method was developed, with low limits of detection (0.11–0.32 ng·L-1), a wide linear range (1–1000 ng·L-1), and satisfactory reproducibility. And accurate quantifications of ultra-trace PBBs in environmental water sample were achieved.