A novel adsorbent based on aptamer prepared via “thiol-ene” click for specific recognition of phthalic acid esters

In this paper, a novel adsorbent based on aptamer was prepared via “thiol-ene” click chemistry reaction and used for selective adsorbing the trace phthalic acid esters (PAEs) from drinking water and juice samples, which depended on the group selectivity of aptamers to the ester and the benzoyl groups of PAEs. The morphological structures of the obtained adsorbents were characterized by Fourier Transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), fluorescence spectra, Energy Dispersive Spectrometer (EDS), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET). The selectivity of the prepared adsorbent was evaluated and the results showed that the recovery of the adsorbent with aptamer for PAEs was 66.10–108.90%, while the recovery of adsorbent without aptamer was only 32.41–37.59%. The limit of detection (LOD) (S/N = 3) and limit of quantitation (LOQ) (S/N = 10) of PAEs coupled with HPLC-UV were obtained in the range of 0.11–0.88 μg L−1 and 0.22–1.33 μg L−1, respectively. This work gave a facile and efficient approach to for specific enrichment and highly sensitivity detection of PAEs. 1. Aptamer-based adsorbent was prepared with a facile “one-pot” process via “thiol-ene” click chemistry reaction.2. The obtained adsorbent could recognize and detect four PAEs simultaneously due to the selectivity of the aptamer to the ester and the benzoyl groups.3. The recovery of the aptamer-based adsorbent for four PAEs was 66.10–108.90%, while the recovery of the control adsorbent was only 32.41–37.59%.4. The LOD of DBP in drinking water samples was 0.55 μg L-1, which was below 3.0 μg L-1 that was the limit standard from GB3838-2002. [Display omitted] •A novel aptamer-based adsorbent for PAEs was prepared via “thiol-ene” click chemistry reaction.•The obtained adsorbent could recognize and detect four PAEs simultaneously.•The selectivity of the aptamer-based adsorbent for PAEs was superior to the control adsorbent.•The LOD of PAEs in drinking water samples was obtained in the range of 0.11–0.88 μg L−1.