Ionogel fibres of bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide anion-based ionic liquids for the headspace solid-phase microextraction of chlorinated organic pollutants

Ionogels, a family of hybrid materials in which ionic liquids (ILs) are confined in a sol-gel network, are receiving much attention in a variety of scientific and technological fields. In this work, ionogels derived from three different ILs based on the anion bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide (TFSI), namely 1-butyl-3-methylpyridinium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide ([C(4)C(1)Pyrr][TFSI]), 1-butyl-1-methylpyrrolidinium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide ([C(4)C(1)Pyrr][TFSI]), and 1-butyl-1-methylpiperidinium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide ([C(4)C(1)Pip][TFSI]) were obtained on the outer surface of optical fibres by sol-gel technology. The obtained hybrid materials were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDX), and subsequently evaluated as sorbent coatings for the headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) of volatile chlorinated organic compounds in combination with gas chromatography with barrier ionization discharge detection (GC-BID). The ionogel based on [C(4)C(1)Pyrr][TFSI] exhibited the highest extractability for target analytes. The experimental parameters that affect the extraction process were optimized by means of a central composite design. Under optimal conditions, the proposed method yielded excellent enrichment factors (EFs) in the range 3889-20 919 and limits of detection (LODs) between 11 and 151 ng L-1 for the target compounds. The inter-day repeatability, intra-day reproducibility and fibre-to-fibre reproducibility, were less than 8.5, 9.6 and 16.9%, respectively. Finally, the developed method was applied to the analysis of water samples, showing recovery values in the range 95-106%.