Recent advances of in-tube solid-phase microextraction

In-tube solid-phase microextraction (SPME) is ideally suited to developing green extraction by combining miniaturization, automation and reduction of solvent consumption. SPME has been used for the analysis of environmental, biological, and food samples, and numerous works have shown the benefits of using SPME. However, for full development of in-tube SPME, effort is still needed to overcome limitations, such as low extraction efficiency, selectivity and mechanical stability. To achieve these objectives, research on in-tube SPME is mainly focused in two scenarios: (1) the coupling of in-tube SPME with new chromatographic modalities, such as miniaturized liquid chromatography; and, (2) the preparation of new extractive phases. This review describes the recent advances in in-tube SPME coupled to different chromatographic systems and their main applications. Moreover, we give an overview of the developments in the preparation of new in-tube SPME extractive phases, highlighting the principal areas of application. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.