A Two-stage Technique Coupling Liquid-liquid Extraction with Self-desalting for Rapid Mass Spectrometric Analysis of Antibiotics in High-salinity Water

doi:10.1007/s40242-026-5289-8

Chemical Research in Chinese Universities ›› 2026, Vol. 42 ›› Issue (3): 927-937.doi: 10.1007/s40242-026-5289-8

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A Two-stage Technique Coupling Liquid-liquid Extraction with Self-desalting for Rapid Mass Spectrometric Analysis of Antibiotics in High-salinity Water

JIANG Jie^1,2, MA Yu¹, XU Meng¹, ZHANG Meng¹, JIANG Yanxiao¹

1. School of Marine Science and Technology, Harbin Institute of Technology (WeiHai), Weihai, 264209, P. R. China;
2. State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150090, P. R. China

Received:2025-12-12 Accepted:2026-02-09 Published:2026-06-02
Contact: JIANG Yanxiao,E-mail:jiangyx@hit.edu.cn E-mail:jiangyx@hit.edu.cn
Supported by:
This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (Nos. 2023YFF0614201, 2023YFF0614202), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 22304038), and the Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province, China (No. ZR2022QB248).

Abstract

Abstract: Antibiotics have gained significant attention as emerging marine pollutants, with their trace-level detection in high-salinity environments being a key analytical challenge. This study developed a two-stage desalination technique that integrates ultrasound-assisted liquid-liquid extraction (US-LLE) with self-desalting droplet spray ionization (SD-DSI) for rapid mass spectrometric analysis of antibiotics. Key influencing factors, including extraction and redissolution solvent types and volumes, extraction time, and dispensing volume, were systematically optimized. Under optimal conditions, the US-LLE-SD-DSI method successfully determined multiple classes of antibiotics in simulated seawater. Clarithromycin and azithromycin exhibited linear ranges of 50–1000 ng/mL, with detection limits of 5.9 and 14.9 ng/mL, respectively, and relative standard deviations below 18.5%. Moreover, the signal intensity for high-salinity samples (3.5%, mass fraction) was enhanced by two orders of magnitude compared to untreated samples (0.35%, mass fraction). Applicability studies demonstrated that the method is effective not only for high-salinity samples but also for salt-free/low-salinity and hard water samples. The established approach provides a streamlined analytical solution for the rapid and sensitive determination of antibiotics in high-salinity seawater.

Key words: Ultrasound-assisted liquid-liquid extraction, Droplet spray ionization mass spectrometry, Two-stage desalination, Antibiotics, High-salinity water

JIANG Jie, MA Yu, XU Meng, ZHANG Meng, JIANG Yanxiao. A Two-stage Technique Coupling Liquid-liquid Extraction with Self-desalting for Rapid Mass Spectrometric Analysis of Antibiotics in High-salinity Water[J]. Chemical Research in Chinese Universities, 2026, 42(3): 927-937.

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A Two-stage Technique Coupling Liquid-liquid Extraction with Self-desalting for Rapid Mass Spectrometric Analysis of Antibiotics in High-salinity Water

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