Separation and concentration of natural products by fast forced adsorption using well-dispersed velvet-like graphitic carbon nitride with response surface methodology optimisation

Abstract Well-dispersed velvet-like graphitic carbon nitride nanoparticles with a large surface area were prepared and utilized for separation and concentration of bioactive compounds from fruit extracts by fast (20 s) forced adsorption. The large surface area, enhanced non-covalent interactions of this nanoparticle with bioactive compounds and good dispersity in different solvents benefited its application as a good sorbent. To evaluate their adsorption capabilities, these carbon nitride nanoparticles were used for separation and concentration of flavonoids from fruit extracts by a forced-adsorption dispersive solid phase extraction method. The combined use of this nanoparticle and our experimental conditions showed excellent precision (3.6–4.7%) and sensitivity (limits of detection (S/N=3): 0.6–3.75 ng/mL). This research provides an alternative strategy to prepare suitable sorbents for adsorption, separation and concentration of various compounds from different extracts.