Miniaturized preconcentration methods based on liquid–liquid extraction and their application in inorganic ultratrace analysis and speciation: A review

Liquid–liquid extraction (LLE) is widely used as a pre-treatment technique for separation and preconcentration of both organic and inorganic analytes from aqueous samples. Nevertheless, it has several drawbacks, such as emulsion formation or the use of large volumes of solvents, which makes LLE expensive and labour intensive. Therefore, miniaturization of conventional liquid–liquid extraction is needed. The search for alternatives to the conventional LLE using negligible volumes of extractant and the minimum number of steps has driven the development of three new miniaturized methodologies, i.e. single-drop microextraction (SDME), hollow fibre liquid-phase microextraction (HF-LPME) and dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction (DLLME). The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of these novel preconcentration approaches and their potential use in analytical labs involved in inorganic (ultra)trace analysis and speciation. Relevant applications to the determination of metal ions, metalloids, organometals and non-metals are included.