Recent advances in solid-phase sorbents for sample preparation prior to chromatographic analysis

Sample preparation is a crucial bottleneck in the whole analytical process. Solid-phase sorbents (SPSs) have aroused increasing interest in research on sample preparation, as they have key roles in obtaining high clean-up and enrichment efficiency in the analysis of trace targets present in complex matrices. The objective of this review is to provide a broad overview of the recent advances and applications of SPSs in sample preparation prior to chromatographic analysis, during the period 2008-13. We include SPSs, such as molecularly-imprinted polymers, carbon nanomaterials, metallic nanoparticles and metal organic frameworks, focusing on solid-phase extraction, solid-phase microextraction, matrix solid-phase dispersion and stir-bar sorptive extraction of typical pollutants in environmental, biological, food and pharmaceutical samples. We propose remaining challenges and future perspectives to improve development of new SPSs and to apply them further.