Hierarchical C-Fe2O3@MnO2 nanostructured sorbent; application in dispersive-μ-solid phase extraction of antifungal drugs

Abstract

In the current work, a hierarchical nanocomposite based on MnO₂ nanosheets attached to the C-Fe₂O₃ substrate (C-Fe₂O₃@MnO₂) was introduced as a novel and efficient dispersive-μ-solid phase extraction sorbent. The well-prepared nanocomposite with unique morphology leading to higher surface area, high porosity, and excellent adsorptive capacity was used for preconcentration of antifungal drugs (ketoconazole, clotrimazole, and miconazole) from plasma and wastewater samples before analysis using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC-UV). The synthesized nanosorbent was characterized using XRD, FTIR, FE-SEM, BET/BJH, and EDX analysis. In the optimal condition, the limit of detection (LODs) and the limit of quantification (LOQs) were acquired as 1.5, 5.0 μg L⁻¹ in the linear range of 5–500 μg L⁻¹ in plasma samples and 0.3, 1.0 μg L⁻¹ in the linear range of 1–150 μg L⁻¹ in wastewater samples for all analytes. Furthermore, the relative standard deviations (RSD%) for the repeatability of the sorbent synthesis method and reusability of one sorbent were found to be 0.92, 1.23, 1.32 % and 2.43, 3.15, 4.28 % for ketoconazole, clotrimazole, and miconazole, respectively.