A new interface for coupling solid phase microextraction with liquid chromatography.

A modified Rheodyne 7520 microsample injector was used as a new solid phase microextraction (SPME)-liquid chromatography (LC) interface. The modification was focused on the construction of a new sample rotor, which was built by gluing two sample rotors together. The new sample rotor was further reinforced with 3 pieces of stainless steel tubing. The enlarged central flow passage in the new sample rotor was used as a desorption chamber. SPME fiber desorption occurred in static mode. But all desorption solvent in the desorption chamber was injected into LC system with the interface. The analytical performance of the interface was evaluated by SPME-LC analysis of PAHs in water. At least 90% polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were desorbed from a polyacrylonitrile (PAN)/C18 bonded fuse silica fiber in 30s. And injection was completed in 20s. About 10-20% total carryovers were found on the fiber and in the interface. The carryover in the interface was eliminated by flushing the desorption chamber with acetonitrile at 1mL min(-1) for 2min. The repeatability of the method was from 2% to 8%. The limit of detection (LOD) was in the mid pg mL(-1) range. The linear ranges were from 0.1 to 100ng mL(-1). The new SPME-LC interface was reliable for coupling SPME with LC for both qualitative and quantitative analysis.