Ionic liquid-functionalized mesoporous multipod silica for simultaneously effective extraction of aflatoxin B1 and its two precursors from grain

Background Aflatoxin B 1 (AFB 1 ) and its precursors contaminate food and agricultural products, posing a significant risk to food safety and human health, but simultaneous and effective extraction and determination of AFB 1 and its precursors with varied structures is still a challenging task. Results In this study, a bisimidazolium-type ionic liquid functionalized mesoporous multipod silica (SiO 2 @mPMO-IL(im) 2 ) was fabricated to extract AFB 1 and its two precursors, i.e., averantin and sterigmatocystin. The SiO 2 @mPMO-IL(im) 2 could simultaneously extract three targets with varied structures based on the multipods, mesopores, and multifunctional groups. The density functional theory calculations further verified the multiple interactions between SiO 2 @mPMO-IL(im) 2 and targets. The fabricated SiO 2 @mPMO-IL(im) 2 could effectively extract and determine three targets in grains by combing with dispersive solid-phase extraction and high-performance liquid chromatography. Good linearity (r 2  > 0.9978), low LODs (0.9–1.5 μg kg −1 ) and LOQs (3.0–4.5 μg kg −1 ), satisfactory spiked recoveries (92.5%–106.8%) and high precisions (RSD<6.4%) were observed. Significance and novelty This work demonstrates the feasibility of SiO 2 @mPMO-IL(im) 2 for simultaneous and effective extraction of toxins with varied structures and provides a promising sample preparation for the analysis of AFB 1 and its precursors in grain samples.