Recent developments in sorbent-based microextraction techniques for the processing of complex matrices

Sample preparation is essential for separating and quantifying target analytes from complex matrices, ensuring accurate and reliable analysis. Over the past few years, Sorbent-based microextraction techniques have been widely used in biological, food, and environmental applications because of their low solvent usage, miniaturization, and compatibility with automated and hyphenated systems. This review focuses on advancements in sorbent material, automation, miniaturization, and integration with analytical instruments, and the combination with chromatographic methods. In microextraction, green approaches to sample preparation include miniaturizing extraction devices and sorbent materials and integrating with hyphenated instruments. Monolithic polymers, metal-organic frameworks, Carbon nanotubes (CNTs), and graphitic carbon nitride are effective sorbents for microextraction due to their large surface areas, chemical and mechanical stability, strong adsorption capacity, ease of surface modification, and suitability for analyzing complex matrices. Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) can be used with high selectivity for extraction, followed by effective reduction of matrix interference, which has limited application in multicomponent analysis. This has prompted the use of mixed-mode and bi-functionalized sorbents to extract multiple analytes simultaneously. While the contemporary issues of sorbent reproducibility, matrix effects, and scalability for large-scale applications are mentioned, the future perspectives of the microextraction technique in analytical and bioanalytical chemistry are discussed.