Recent developments in stir bar sorptive extraction

As a crucial step in qualitative and quantitative analysis, sample pretreatment is commonly used to isolate the target analytes, concentrate them, or convert them into the forms tailored to the instrumental analysis. In recent years, there has been a trend for sample pretreatment techniques to become more miniaturized and more environmentally friendly. Stir bar sorptive extraction (SBSE), which was developed in 1999, is such an environmentally friendly microextraction technique. Compared with other microextraction techniques, including solid phase microextraction and liquid phase microextraction, SBSE provides a higher extraction efficiency and better reproducibility owing to the much greater amount of the extraction phase, and no special skills are required. However, there are some problems associated with SBSE, such as the limited applicable coatings, coating abrasion of the laboratory-made stir bar, and the difficulty in automation, which restrict the further improvement and application of SBSE. This review focuses on the development of SBSE in the past decade, in terms of coating preparation, automated systems, novel extraction modes, its use with various instruments, and applications in food, environmental, and biological samples.