Simultaneous extraction of four plant growth regulators residues in vegetable samples using solid phase extraction based on thiol-functionalized nanofibers mat

•A simple and environmentally friendly sample pretreatment method was established.•The proposed method significantly simplified sample preparation process.•The consumption of adsorbent and organic reagent was far lower than current methods.•The optimized SH–PAN NFsM presented excellent reusability in practical application.•Sensitive detection of multiple PGRs residues in vegetable samples was achieved. A simple and environmentally friendly sample pretreatment method was established for extraction of four plant growth regulators (PGRs) residues in vegetable samples. In order to effectively extract targets from complex sample matrices, three types of polar groups (COOH, NH2, or SH) functionalized polyacrylonitrile nanofibers mats (PAN NFsM) were prepared and evaluated, respectively. The superior -SH functionalized PAN NFsM was further selected as a novel adsorbent of solid phase extraction (SPE). Under optimal conditions, the proposed method could achieve high sensitivity (0.2–2 ng g−1) and acceptable recovery (88.94%–106.42%) by consuming lower amount of adsorbent (only 5 mg) and organic reagent (only 1.4 mL), and performing much fewer steps than current methods. In addition, the prepared SH–PAN NFsM possessed excellent reusability which could be reused for 6 times without degradation in adsorption capability. These results presented the great potential of the established method for environmental-friendly and efficiently detecting PGRs residues.