DEVELOPMENT AND APPLICATION OF MINIATURIZED SAMPLE PREPARATION TECHNIQUES COMBINED WITH GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY-MASS SPECTROMETRY IN ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS
type: CreativeWork
description: This dissertation presents the development and application of miniaturized sample preparation techniques for environmental analysis. For sorbent-based microextraction, the applicability and feasibility of graphene or modified graphene as sorbent was investigated and evaluated. The possibility of graphene serving as sorbent was first explored in micro-solid-phase extraction. To further investigate its extraction capability, well-dispersed graphene was applied in a variation of solid-phase microextraction (SPME), which was assembled with a commercially-available plunger-in-needle microsyringe, in which the plunger was coated with graphene. With this setup, a ready-made SPME device resembling a commercial system, was conveniently devised. A liquid-phase microextraction (LPME) approach was developed: plunger-in-needle LPME, based on similar concept as plunger-in-needle SPME. A hydrofluoric acid-etched stainless steel plunger was used as organic solvent holder and support. The aforementioned miniaturized and environmentally friendly sample preparation methods were demonstrated to be simple, fast and cost-effective for the analysis of organic pollutants from environmental aqueous samples.
abstract: This dissertation presents the development and application of miniaturized sample preparation techniques for environmental analysis. For sorbent-based microextraction, the applicability and feasibility of graphene or modified graphene as sorbent was investigated and evaluated. The possibility of graphene serving as sorbent was first explored in micro-solid-phase extraction. To further investigate its extraction capability, well-dispersed graphene was applied in a variation of solid-phase microextraction (SPME), which was assembled with a commercially-available plunger-in-needle microsyringe, in which the plunger was coated with graphene. With this setup, a ready-made SPME device resembling a commercial system, was conveniently devised. A liquid-phase microextraction (LPME) approach was developed: plunger-in-needle LPME, based on similar concept as plunger-in-needle SPME. A hydrofluoric acid-etched stainless steel plunger was used as organic solvent holder and support. The aforementioned miniaturized and environmentally friendly sample preparation methods were demonstrated to be simple, fast and cost-effective for the analysis of organic pollutants from environmental aqueous samples.
author: ZHANG HONG
keywords: Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, Microextraction, Solid-phase, Liquid-phase, Graphene, Plunger-in-needle
date published: 2011-09-22
date modified: 2026-07-24T03:31:13Z
provider: National University of Singapore
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: National University of Singapore