Gangfeng Ouyang

Nondestructive Sampling of Living Systems Using in Vivo Solid-Phase Microextraction

Nondestructive Sampling of Living Systems Using in Vivo Solid-Phase Microextraction Gangfeng Ouyang,* Dajana Vuckovic, and Janusz Pawliszyn* MOEKeyLaboratory of Aquatic Product Safety/KLGHEI of Environment andEnergyChemistry, School ofChemistry andChemical Engineering, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China Department of Chemistry, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1, Canada

A critical review in calibration methods for solid-phase microextraction.

Solid-phase microextraction (SPME) was developed to address the need for rapid sampling and sample preparation, both in the laboratory and on-site. Unlike traditional sample preparation methods, SPME is a non-exhaustive extraction technique in which only a small portion of the target analyte is removed from the sample matrix. Therefore, calibration of SPME for quantitative analysis is very important. In this review, we summarized the proposed SPME calibration methods and the characteristics of these methods were discussed.

A synthetic route to ultralight hierarchically micro/mesoporous Al(III)-carboxylate metal-organic aerogels

Developing a synthetic methodology for the fabrication of hierarchically porous metal-organic monoliths that feature high surface area, low density and tunable porosity is imperative for mass transfer applications, including bulky molecule capture, heterogeneous catalysis and drug delivery. Here we report a versatile and facile synthetic route towards ultralight micro/mesoporous metal-organic aerogels based on the two-step gelation of metal-organic framework nanoparticles. Heating represents a key factor in the control of gelation versus crystallization of Al(III)-multicarboxylate systems. The porosity of the resulting metal-organic aerogels can be readily tuned, leading to the formation of well-ordered intraparticle micropores and aerogel-specific interparticle mesopores, thereby integrating the merits of both crystalline metal-organic frameworks and light aerogels. The hierarchical micro/mesoporosity of the Al-metal-organic aerogels is thoroughly evaluated by N2 sorption. The good accessibility of the micro/mesopores is verified by vapour/dye uptake, and their potential for utilization as effective fibre-coating absorbents is tested in solid-phase microextraction analyses.

Surface Energy of Nanostructural Materials with Negative Curvature and Related Size Effects

Key Laboratory of Low-Dimensional Quantum Structures and Quantum Control of Ministry of Education, and Department of Physics, Hunan Normal University, Changsha 410081, Hunan, P. R. China, and State Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Materials and Technologies, Institute of Optoelectronic and Functional Composite Materials, Nanotechnology Research Center, School of Physics Science & Engineering, Zhongshan University, Guangzhou 510275, Guangdong, P. R. China

Application of functionalized magnetic nanoparticles in sample preparation

Functionalized magnetic nanoparticles have attracted much attention in sample preparation because of their excellent performance compared with traditional sample-preparation sorbents. In this review, we describe the application of magnetic nanoparticles functionalized with silica, octadecylsilane, carbon-based material, surfactants, and polymers as adsorbents for separation and preconcentration of analytes from a variety of matrices. Magnetic solid-phase extraction (MSPE) techniques, mainly reported in the last five years, are presented and discussed.

Carbon nanotube-coated solid-phase microextraction metal fiber based on sol–gel technique

A novel carbon nanotube (CNT)-coated solid-phase microextraction fiber was prepared based on sol-gel technique. Commonly used fragile fused silica fiber was replaced with stainless steel wire, which made the fiber unbreakable. An approach was also proposed for batch producing, and good reproducibilities for fiber to fiber and between fibers were achieved. Experiments showed that the sol-gel-CNT fiber exhibited high thermal stability to resist 350 degrees C and excellent solvent durability in methanol and acetonitrile. Compared to commercial polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) fiber, the sol-gel-CNT fiber represented significantly improved extraction efficiencies for both polar (phenols) and non-polar (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and o-xylene) compounds. Meanwhile, no replacement effect, low carry-over and wide linear range demonstrated that the newly prepared sol-gel-CNT coating has liquid properties, which allow a relatively easy quantification procedure. Moreover, the characterization of the sol-gel-CNT coating was also evaluated with McReynold probe solutes. The results showed that the coating has better affinity for all the five types of solutes compared to commercial 7microm PDMS fiber, which suggested that the coating has the potential to be developed as GC stationary phase.

Application of nanomaterials in sample preparation.

Nanotechnology is one of the most important trends in material science. Due to the ultra-small size, nanomaterials possess unique physical and chemical properties. In this review, we summarized and discussed the recent applications of different nanomaterials, including metallic nanoparticles, metal organic frameworks (MOFs) materials, carbonaceous nanomaterials and siliceous nanoparticles, in sample preparation techniques.

Hierarchically Nanostructured Rutile Arrays: Acid Vapor Oxidation Growth and Tunable Morphologies

A general acid vapor oxidation (AVO) strategy has been developed to grow highly oriented hierarchically structured rutile TiO(2) nanoarrays with tunable morphologies from titanium thin films. This is a simple one-pot synthesis approach involving the reaction of a titanium surface with the vapor generated from a hydrochloric acid solution in a Teflon lined autoclave. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first successful attempt to grow ordered tree-like titania nanoarrays. A possible formation mechanism for the interesting architectures has been proposed based on series of time-dependent experiments. By adjusting the initial HCl concentration, films of different rutile structures including nanotrees, dendritic nanobundles, and nanorods can be selectively obtained. Subsequently, the surface morphologies and wettability can be readily tuned.

Preparation and characterization of metal-organic framework MIL-101(Cr)-coated solid-phase microextraction fiber

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have received great attention as novel sorbents due to their fascinating structures and intriguing potential applications in various fields. In this work, a MIL-101(Cr)-coated solid-phase microextraction (SPME) fiber was fabricated by a simple direct coating method and applied to the determination of volatile compounds (BTEX, benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, m-xylene and o-xylene) and semi-volatile compounds (PAHs, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) from water samples. The extraction and desorption conditions of headspace SPME (HS-SPME) were optimized. Under the optimized conditions, the established methods exhibited excellent extraction performance. Good precision (<7.7%) and low detection limits (0.32-1.7 ng L(-1) and 0.12-2.1 ng L(-1) for BTEX and PAHs, respectively) were achieved. In addition, the MIL-101(Cr)-coated fiber possessed good thermal stability, and the fiber can be reused over 150 times. The fiber was successfully applied to the analysis of BTEX and PAHs in river water by coupling with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The analytes at low concentrations (1.7 and 10 ng L(-1)) were detected, and the recoveries obtained with the spiked river water samples were in the range of 80.0-113% and 84.8-106% for BTEX and PAHs, respectively, which demonstrated the applicability of the self-made fiber.

Comparison of thin-film microextraction and stir bar sorptive extraction for the analysis of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in aqueous samples with controlled agitation conditions

The characterization of a poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) thin film for active extraction of some polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons was investigated in both a 1-L aqueous solution and a flow-through system. The thin film was attached to an electric bench-drill at a constant rotation speed for constant agitation and fast extraction. The performance of a PDMS-coated stir bar at a constant stirring speed was also investigated. The comparison showed that the extraction rate was much higher when using the thin film than the stir bar, and that the equilibration time was greatly shortened due to the larger surface area/volume ratio of the thin film. The extraction rate was roughly proportional to surface area of the extraction phase during the initial stage of the extraction process; the amount of analyte extracted was proportional to the ratio of the extraction phase between the thin film and the stir bar. Different agitation and stirring rates of the thin film and stir bar were applied for extraction, revealing that extraction efficiency can be improved by increasing rotation rate. The application of rotated thin film in the field proved it is a valid and easily operated method for the determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in a campus river. However, the stir bar is not as convenient as a thin film in field sampling.