Water Resources Research Act Program

Details for Project ID 2008NJ162B

Micro Scale Solid Phase Extraction using Carbon Nanotubes for Rapid Detection of Organic Pollutants in Water Resources

Institute: New Jersey
Year Established: 2008 Start Date: 2008-03-01 End Date: 2009-02-28
Total Federal Funds: $5,000 Total Non-Federal Funds: $11,745

Principal Investigators: Ornthida Sae-Khow, Somenath Mitra

Abstract: Recent evidence has shown that the list of trace contaminants including pesticides and pharmaceuticals is increasing in surface and natural waters all across the nation. While they can be detected by conventional methods such as HPLC, LC/MS etc., their low concentration requires extensive sample pretreatment that makes the overall process time consuming and expensive. Conventional approach to their monitoring involves field sampling followed by laboratory based methods such as liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) and solid-phase extraction (SPE). The development of relatively simple, fast sampling techniques that require microliters of solvents would be of great importance that will allow widespread monitoring of these pollutants. The objective of this research is to explore the development microscale solid phase extraction (-SPE) for the extraction of a wide range of compounds including pesticides and drug metabolites in our water resources. The specific goals of this project are as follows: a) Implement -SPE in the needle of a syringe for easy sampling, enrichment and injection. b) Explore the possibility of using carbon nanotubes (CNTs) as novel, high performance sorbents for -SPE. c) Implement the CNTs in a packed as well as in an open tubular, self assembled format. d) Optimize -SPE to combine sampling and desorption.