Advances in Liquid Phase Micro-Extraction Techniques for Metal, Metalloid and Organometallic Species Determination

Recently, the scientific interest for greener analytical methods, has led to the development of novel miniaturized liquid phase microextraction (LPME) methodologies resulting in a minimum amount of organic solvent used, along with fast and economical procedures. Sample preparation is the most time-consuming and polluting step in any analytical method. This review aims to provide an overview of the advances in all these unconventional liquid phase microextraction methodologies, such as single-drop microextraction (SDME), hollow-fiber liquid phase microextraction (HF-LPME), dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (DLLME) and solidified floating organic drop (SFO) microextraction and their potential use for metal, metalloid and organometallic compounds determination as well as for metal speciation. The new trends in the field of miniaturization and automation are also presented.