On-line coupling of miniaturized solid-phase extraction and microcolumn liquid-phase separations

On-line coupling of miniaturized solid-phase extraction methods and microcolumn separation techniques are reviewed. A conventional solid-phase micro-extraction device and fiber-in-tube solid-phase extraction was employed as the sample preparation method. In the fiber-in-tube technique, a novel fibrous polymeric material was introduced as the extraction medium for the microscale sample preparation step which could be directly coupled with microcolumn liquid-phase separation systems, such as microcolumn liquid chromatography, capillary electrophoresis, and capillary electrochromatography. The applications of these hyphenated systems, consisting of the sample preparation and separation processes, are also reviewed.