Solid-phase microextraction of methadone in urine samples by electrochemically co-deposited sol-gel/Cu nanocomposite fiber.

Electrochemically co-deposited sol-gel/Cu nanocomposites have been introduced as a novel, simple and single-step technique for preparation of solid-phase microextraction (SPME) coating to extract methadone (MDN) (a synthetic opioid) in urine samples. The porous surface structure of the sol-gel/Cu nanocomposite coating was revealed by scanning electron microscopy. Direct immersion SPME followed by HPLC-UV determination was employed. The factors influencing the SPME procedure, such as the salt content, desorption solvent type, pH and equilibration time, were optimized. The best conditions were obtained with no salt content, acetonitrile as desorption solvent type, pH 9 and 10 min equilibration time. The calibration graphs for urine samples showed good linearity. The detection limit was about 0.2 ng mL-1 . Also, the novel method for preparation of nanocomposite fiber was compared with previously reported techniques for MDN determination. The results show that the novel nanocomposite fiber has relatively high extraction efficiency.