Super Absorbent Polymer for Water Removing Process Followed by a Needle-Type Extraction to the Effective Collection of Methanol in Water Samples

Super absorbent polymer (SAP) particles, i.e., sodium polyacrylate, were introduced for purge and trap (PT) extraction of methanol in water samples. The purged methanol was extracted by a needle-type extraction device and determined using a gas chromatograph equipped with a flame ionization detector. A functional porous polytetrafluoroethylene membrane was fixed on a solid-phase extraction glass cartridge to retain the aqueous sample while allowing the purge gas to pass through. A sponge was formed by adding 2 g of SAP particles into 10 mL of water sample. Then, the purge gas was collected from the tip of the cartridge and the purged methanol was extracted on the adsorbent of the extraction needle. The limit of detection of the method was 2.5 ng/mL. The method was applied to the determination of methanol in fruit juice samples. The proposed method showed higher sensitivity than conventional PT methods. Furthermore, bubbles are not produce during PT extraction, showing that the developed method is especially suitable for samples that form bubbles in typical PT extraction processes.