Background: Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are persistent environmental
pollutants that their identification and elimination is one of the major environmental
challenges. Developing advanced hybrid sorbents offers an efficient approach for the
preconcentration and trace determination of these compounds in aqueous systems.
Objective: The present study aimed to synthesize and apply a hollow fiber nanocomposite
of polyacrylonitrile/graphene oxide modified with β-cyclodextrin (PAN/GO/β-CD HF) as
a novel sorbent for microextraction and preconcentration of PAHs from aqueous solutions,
followed by spectrophotometric determination.
Methodology: The synthesized nanocomposite was structurally and morphologically
characterized by FTIR, XRD, SEM, AFM, TGA, DLS, and contact angle measurements.
The effects of β-CD and GO modification on thermal stability, specific surface area, and
porosity were evaluated. Operational parameters including β-CD content, analyte volume,
solution pH, desorption solvent volume, adsorption and desorption times were optimized.
The performance of the sorbent was investigated for the extraction of five representative
PAHs: methyl anthracene, phenanthrene, pyrene, fluoranthene, and dibenzothiophene.
Results: Surface modification with β-CD significantly improved thermal stability,
effective surface area, and created a more homogeneous and porous structure. The
synergistic effect of GO and β-CD greatly enhanced the removal efficiency of PAHs. The
influence of β-CD showed that lower amounts increase the surface roughness and higher
values cause a uniform coating and reduces the roughness. Under optimized conditions,
limits of detection (LOD) were 0.0163, 0.0128, 0.0123, 0.0135, and 0.0119 mg L⁻¹ for
methyl anthracene, phenanthrene, pyrene, fluoranthene, and dibenzothiophene,
respectively. Kinetic studies revealed that the adsorption process followed a pseudosecond-order model (R² > 0.98), controlled by mass transfer and intraparticle diffusion.
Isot
