Molecularly imprinted polypyrrole@CuO nanocomposite as an in-tube solid-phase microextraction coating for selective extraction of carbamazepine from biological samples

[Display omitted] •The CuO@MIP was electrochemically synthesized on inner surface of a cupper capillary tube.•The tube was used for in tube solid-phase microextraction of carbamazepine from biological samples.•The effective parameters on the extraction efficiency of carbamazepine was optimized.•The method indicated a wide linear range for carbamazepine in the range of 0.05–500 μg L−1.•The high stability, excellent selectivity, and high surface area lead to an increase in extraction efficiency. A nanocomposite of molecularly imprinted polypyrrole on copper oxide (MIP@CuO) was introduced as a new coating for in-tube solid-phase microextraction (IT-SPME). The method coupled with HPLC-UV was successfully applied for analysis of carbamazepine (anticonvulsant and bipolar disorder medication) in biological samples. First, in order to increase the surface area and stability of the coating, copper oxide (CuO) nanosheets were synthesized on the inner surface of a copper tube using a chemical method. Then, molecularly imprinted polypyrrole coating (using carbamazepine as a template) was deposited on CuO by a facile in-situ electrodeposition method. According to the results, The MIP@CuO coating shows long life time, enhanced extraction efficiency, and good clean-up, for pre-concentration and determination of carbamazepine in biological samples. The synthesized adsorbent also showed high selectivity to carbamazepine compared to other drugs with similar structure. Important factors affecting the extraction efficiency of the analyte in the in-tube SPME method, such as salt concentration, extraction and desorption times, flowrates of the sample solution, and eluent, were optimized. Under optimal conditions, the method showed good linearity for carbamazepine in the range of 0.05–500 μg L−1, 0.10–500 μg L−1, and 0.10–500 μg L−1 in water, urine, and plasma samples, respectively, with coefficients of determination better than 0.996. The limits of detection were in the range of 0.01−0.05 μg L−1 in different matrices. The intra- and inter-assay precisions (RSD%, n = 3) were in the range of 6.7–8.1 % and 7.1–9.5 %, respectively.