Pre-concentration and extraction of fenitrothion using a prefabricated 3D spongin-based skeleton of marine demosponge: optimization by experimental design

A new approach for solid phase extraction (SPE) and preconcentration of aqueous fenitrothion (FNT) specimens was developed with the aid of a natural renewable biomaterial (spongin) as a sorbent. The SPE was performed prior to HPLC-UV-DAD analysis of the analyte. The effects of different factors including pH value, amount of sorbent, eluent type and its volume, adsorption time and salt effect on the efficiency of the developed SPE process were optimized through experimental design. It was observed that the optimal conditions lead to a linear dynamic range of 5-500 ng mL(-1), as well as limits of detection (LOD) and quantification (LOQ) as low as 1.3 ng mL(-1) and 4.3 ng mL(-1), respectively. The relative standard deviation (RSD%, n=5) was 2.7% at a concentration 10 ng mL(?1) of fenitrothion. The spongin as a green adsorbent in the developed approach was effectively used for the first time in extraction the fenitrothion from various real samples.