CHEMICAL ENGINEERING TRANSACTIONS VOL. 60, 2017 A publication of The Italian Association of Chemical Engineering Online at www.aidic.it/cet Guest Editors: Luca Di Palma, Elisabetta Petrucci, Marco Stoller Copyright © 2017, AIDIC Servizi S.r.l. I SBN 978-88-95608- 50-1; I SSN 2283-9216 Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons Extraction Based on Graphene Coated Magnetic Alloy Nanoparticles Maria Sarno, Eleonora Ponticorvo * , Claudia Cirillo, Paolo Ciambelli Department of Industrial Engineering and Centre NANO_MATES University of Salerno Via Giovanni Paolo II ,132 - 84084 Fisciano (SA), Italy eponticorvo@unisa.it In this paper we reported on a new promising nanosorbent constituted by core-shell few layer graphene coated metal nanoparticles (G-FeCo). It combines the superparamagnetism of the FeCo alloy and the strong adsorption ability of the carbon materials to give a direct excellent absorption efficiency and rapid separation. Two PAHs as model analytes, fluoranthene and anthracene, were determined by the combination of magnetic solid phase extraction (MSPE) and GC-MS analysis. Limits of detection of PAHs were found for analytes solutions in the linear range of 2-200 ng l -1 . The accuracy of the method was evaluated by the recoveries of spiked samples. Very good recoveries was achieved with G-FeCo. Our results proved that the present approach is sensitive and efficient for the extraction of PAHs traces. This simple method provided a very high extraction efficiency and short analysis times. 1. Introduction PAHs (Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons) are very difficult to degrade due to their high stability and complex molecular structures and are considered very significant environmental pollutants. The PAHs structural features make them carcinogenic, mutagenic, and teratogenic (Srogi, 2007). There is an increasing interest in the detection of PAHs in environmental water sources for the protection of health and environment. Magnetic Solid-Phase Extraction (MSPE), that is a magnetic based Solid-Phase Extraction (SPE), has gained more and more attention in trace analysis (Liu et al., 2012). To ensure rapid separation high magnetization value are required. Many studies have been focused on magnetite nanoparticles (NPs) (Metaxa et al., 2016; Adamaki et al., 2016; Sarno et al., 2016b). Carbon materials, including activated carbon, graphitized carbon black, porous graphitic carbon and graphene, possesses strong adsorption ability (Sreeprasad et al., 2013). Carbon- encapsulated metal or metal carbide nanocrystallites have been generated by the Kratschmer arc-discharge process already in 1995 (Scott et al., 1995). Since then, many studies have shown that in the presence of metal nanoparticles (Co, Fe, Ni, Cr, Au, etc), graphitized carbon structures, such as carbon nanotubes and carbon onions, are formed under arc-discharge, laser ablation, and electron irradiation (Ang et al., 2004). Gedanken and co-workers reported a sonochemical procedure that leads to air-stable cobalt nanoparticles (Nikitenko et al., 2001). Johnson et al. describe a simple method to prepare carbon-coated magnetic Fe and Fe3 C nanoparticles by direct pyrolysis of iron stearate at 900 °C under an argon atmosphere (Geng et al., 2004). Moreover, carbon-coated nanoparticles are usually in the metallic state, and thus have a higher magnetic moment than the corresponding oxides. Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) technique offers the advantage of being the easiest to scale up towards an economically viable production (Seo et al., 2006). On the other hand, at the best of our knowledge, FeCo NPs covered by graphene have been never tested for this purpose although it is very promising. In this paper, we reported on a new promising nanosorbents constituted by core-shell few layer graphene coated metal NPs (G-FeCo). It combines: (i) the superparamagnetism of the FeCo alloy (a very high saturation magnetization value of 238 e.m.u./g was found in Sarno et al. 2016a (Sarno et al., 2016a)) permitting a faster separation than that previously obtained (Sarno et al., 2016b); and (ii) the strong adsorption ability of graphene, that avoiding further functionalization, allows an excellent absorption efficiency. The stable core-shell G-FeCo NPs were synthesized by catalytic chemical vapor deposition (CCVD) of methane at atmospheric pressure using a catalyst prepared by wet impregnation of gibbsite (γ- DOI: 10.3303/CET1760025 Please cite this article as: Sarno M., Ponticorvo E., Cirillo C., Ciambelli P., 2017, Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons extraction based on graphene coated magnetic alloy nanoparticles, Chemical Engineering Transactions, 60, 145-150 DOI: 10.3303/CET1760025 145