Ultrasensitive detection of triazine herbicides in food via dispersive solid-phase extraction with nanoconfined task-specific ionic liquids in tunable hollow porous carbon spheres.

Triazine herbicides are widely detected in food and pose significant hazards to ecosystems and human health. In this study, a nanoconfined composite of task-specific ionic liquids (TSILs) within hollow porous carbon spheres (HPCS), denoted TSILs@HPCS, was synthesized via post-impregnation for selective enrichment and efficient extraction of triazine herbicides. Hydrophobic TSILs incorporating [NTf2-] anion were systematically prepared. Confinement within HPCS tunable pores yielded a 6.0-fold increase in triazine herbicide adsorption capacity relative to pristine HPCS. The TSILs@HPCS composite serves as a multifunctional adsorbent, enabling the simultaneous sorptive removal, highly sensitive detection, and sieving of analytes. A dispersive solid-phase extraction method coupled with high-performance liquid chromatography was developed to quantify trace triazine herbicides in complex food matrices. This approach demonstrated low detection limits (0.06-0.12 μg kg-1) and high enrichment factors (124-192), confirming its suitability for residue analysis. These results establish TSILs@HPCS as a promising adsorbent for preconcentrating triazine herbicides in food samples.