Smart Sorption Materials in Green Analytical Chemistry

Abstract

The use of smart materials as alternative sorption materials for their use in greening sample preparation has been reviewed. It has been taking into consideration recent advances on the use of natural products, without any modification or purification, for making analyte extraction and pre-concentration and the use of specific materials in solid-phase extraction (SPE) and solid-phase microextrac-tion (SPME) approaches. Inorganic materials, such as metal oxides, alumina-based, silica-based, and carbon-based materials together with biomimetic sorbents such as classical immunosorbents, aptamers, and molecularly imprinted polymers, have been reviewed as examples of these materials, stressing the enhancement of analytical features involved in their use and advertising about side effects coming from their production system and use. The main objective has been to put the spotlight on these smart materials, which can offer alternative and simple tools for matrix removal and analyte pre-concentration, improving selectivity and specificity of traditional analytical determinations.