Flowerlike Ni–NiO composite as magnetic solid-phase extraction sorbent for analysis of carbendazim and thiabendazole in edible vegetable oils by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry

Abstract A rapid, selective, and sensitive method was developed for the detection of carbendazim and thiabendazole in edible vegetable oil. Two benzimidazole analytes were pre-concentrated by magnetic solid phase extraction (MSPE) using flowerlike Ni–NiO composite as sorbents and followed by LC-MS/MS analysis. The flowerlike Ni–NiO composite sorbent displayed a high affinity towards benzimidazole analytes due to the reversible coordination interaction between the Ni(Ⅱ) ion and the electron-donating imidazole group. In comparison to the previous methods, this procedure is less time-consuming and simpler during sample preparation. The parameters affecting the extraction efficiency were optimized in detail. The method was validated according to SANTE/12682/2019. The limits of detection were in the range of 0.001-0.003 mg•kg-1. The recoveries ranged from 89.3% to 110.7% with inter-day and inter-day precision less than 10.9%. The results indicate that flowerlike Ni–NiO composite might be a promising alternative for MSPE of benzimidazole compounds in foods.