Stable and ultrasensitive analysis of organic pollutants and heavy metals by dried droplet method with superhydrophobic-induced enrichment

Yuanchao Liu; Jie Pan; Guobin Zhang; Zebiao Li; Zhenlin Hu; Yanwu Chu; Lianbo Guo; Condon Lau

doi:10.1016/j.aca.2021.338253

Stable and ultrasensitive analysis of organic pollutants and heavy metals by dried droplet method with superhydrophobic-induced enrichment

Anal Chim Acta. 2021 Mar 22:1151:338253. doi: 10.1016/j.aca.2021.338253. Epub 2021 Jan 25.

Authors

Yuanchao Liu¹, Jie Pan², Guobin Zhang², Zebiao Li², Zhenlin Hu³, Yanwu Chu³, Lianbo Guo⁴, Condon Lau⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Physics, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
² Department of Materials Science and Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
³ Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics (WNLO), Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
⁴ Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics (WNLO), Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China. Electronic address: lbguo@hust.edu.cn.
⁵ Department of Physics, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China. Electronic address: condon.lau@cityu.edu.hk.

PMID: 33608082
DOI: 10.1016/j.aca.2021.338253

Abstract

Herein, a dried droplet method (DDM) with superhydrophobic-induced enrichment is reported for stable and ultrasensitive analysis of organic pollutants and heavy metals. A superhydrophobic (SHB) substrate was prepared as an analytical detection platform for the DDM. This SHB substrate was synthesized by sequentially coating polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO₂ NPs) onto glass substrate surface. In the droplet drying process, the SHB substrate was demonstrated to suppress the coffee ring effect (CRE) and enriched analyte concentration. Combining with Raman spectroscopy for analysis of methylene blue (MB), and with laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) for analysis of chromium (Cr), the results indicated high stability and ultra-sensitivity for organic pollutants and heavy metals detection. Overall, the DDM with superhydrophobic-induced enrichment has big potential in applications requiring stable and ultrasensitive analysis.

Keywords: Coffee ring effect; Dried droplet method; Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy; Organic pollutants and heavy metals; Raman spectroscopy; Superhydrophobic-induced enrichment.