Comparative study of the use of high-performance liquid chromatography and capillary electrophoresis for determination of phenolic compounds in water samples

A comparative study of high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) for determination of eleven EPA priority phenols in water samples is discussed. The repeatability, linearity and detection limits of both methods are compared. A solid-phase extraction method using a highly cross-linked styrene-divinylbenzene copolymer sorbent is used for the off-line preconcentration process in order to determine these compounds in water at low levels. Both methods are used to determine phenolic compounds in Ebro river and industrial waste water. Identification was achieved by comparison of the UV spectra corresponding to the different peaks, acquired with a diode-array detector, with those in a spectral library.