Carboxyl Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticle-based SPE and HPLC method for the determination of six tetracyclines in water

A novel carboxyl Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticle-based solid-phase extraction combined with high-performance liquid chromatography was developed for the analysis of oxytetracycline, tetracycline, demeclocycline, metacycline, chlortetracycline, and doxycycline in water samples. Driven by the electrostatic interaction and the strong chelation between tetracyclines and iron ions, tetracyclines in samples were adsorbed onto the adsorbents. The adsorbed analytes were subsequently eluted with oxalic acid and separated with a C18 column under gradient condition with a mobile phase consisting of methanol, acetonitrile, and oxalic acid at a flow rate of 0.5 mL/min. The detection was performed at variable ultraviolet wavelengths. Under optimized conditions, the developed method gave an enrichment factor of 33.3, linearity ranges of 5.00–1000 μg/L, detection limits of (2.86–5.19) × 10-2 μg/L, quantification limits of (9.54–17.3) × 10-2 μg/L, recoveries of 76.2–98.0%, and intra- and inter-day RSDs of 0.132–15.5% and 2.28–14.5% for these tetracyclines. The established method was successfully applied for the determination of these six tetracyclines in tap water, river water, pond water, and lake water samples.